


Stay With Me

by mikor1n



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Fake Marriage, M/M, Mutual Pining, Shiro has PTSD, Slow Burn, will add more tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7587415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikor1n/pseuds/mikor1n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith has been in the US from South Korea for the last four years on a student visa. Graduation is approaching rapidly, and he's scared shitless. He has nothing to go back to in Korea. Everything he has is here. So now, he needs a quick way to stay here - and he's chosen Shiro as his target. After all, how hard can it be to pull off a fake marriage?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposal

Graduation was coming up far too quickly for Keith Gyeong’s liking. 

For one, the pressure from finals was enough to make him feel suffocated 24/7. But then there was the lingering reminder that he was going back to South Korea, and he could only shove that to the back of his mind so many times before he would have to face it head-on. Finals were about a month away, so he only had about a month and a half to figure out his plan of action. 

He pursed his lips, gaze fixing on the book in front of him but not focusing on any of the words. They all blurred into an illegible blob, and he sighed. 

The sigh was obviously louder than he had thought; it garnered the attention of nearly everyone else at the table. Pidge’s nose was still stuck in her book, but otherwise, Keith’s other friends were looking at him. “Are you alright, Keith?” Shiro asked, concern evident in his deep brown eyes. 

He was quick to wave off Shiro’s concern. “I’m good. Studying is just… tiring.” He mustered a quiet laugh, which was mirrored by Shiro. 

“I agree.” And with that, he turned back to his own book. Keith had never been one to put his feelings on the table, even though his friends were truly the only people he had. He would deal with things on his own, just as he had all 21 years of his life. 

For the next few hours, Keith didn’t study. He knew that he really should, but he couldn’t bring himself to concentrate. He toyed with the idea of flunking on purpose to give himself another year in the States. But he didn’t want to subject himself to another year of college. He wanted to finally get out of here and make something of himself. What that was, he wasn’t sure yet, but he sure didn’t want to stay in school while he found out. 

“See you guys tomorrow then?” Pidge asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Same place?”

“Same place, same time,” Hunk affirmed with a grin. “If you guys need me, I’ll be in the dining hall. All this studying is gonna make me starve to death.” 

Lance threw his arm around Hunk’s broad shoulders. “Count me in. Catch you guys later!” Keith offered a quiet goodbye in response, and the group went their separate ways. 

Except for Shiro, that was. He stuck around as the others left the library. “You sure you’re alright, Keith?” the older student asked with a slight frown. “You seem quiet.” 

“I’m always quiet, you know that,” Keith chuckled. Of course Shiro would be the one to notice. He was easily the ‘dad’ of the group - the one who worried after all of them, who checked on them all and made sure they were getting their homework done. 

“Yeah, but you’re quieter than usual,” Shiro prodded. He gave Keith a look that pierced into his very being, and he had to hold back a shiver. Shiro quite easily had more power over Keith than anyone else. 

The tiniest bit of concern from Shiro was enough to make Keith blurt out words that he never thought he would say. “I don’t want to go back to Korea.” The words escaped his lips before he could stop them. But once they left his mouth, he felt as if a thousand pounds of weight had been lifted off his chest. He cleared his throat, clasping his hands in his lap. “It’s just been on my mind a lot, I guess.” 

Shiro leaned into the table slightly, resting his chin in his hand. “Trust me, none of us want you to go back,” he chuckled. “Is there… anything you can do? I mean, now that you’re going to have a degree and a job, can’t you apply to actually stay here?”

“I don’t have time. I have to go back right after finals.” His voice was small as he spoke. “I think I’m just going to have to go back. Unless….” 

“Unless?” Shiro lifted his eyebrows, and Keith couldn’t believe he was going to say this. 

“Unless I get married.” He cleared his throat. “That kinda thing, you know, usually works quicker than just… applying for a green card.” 

“Oh.” Shiro’s lips parted in surprise, and it was obvious that he was at a loss for words. But at least he wasn’t arguing, right? 

Keith was already this far - he might as well go all the way. “Would you marry me, Shiro?” 

Shiro blinked, and the few moments it took him to process a response felt like hours to Keith. “I-- Uh, Keith, I’m pretty sure that’s really illegal. And would get you deported. We’d be lying, Keith, to everyone. We wouldn’t be able to tell anyone. I just don’t know….”

He knew that Shiro was going to protest. He was such a by-the-books person. He’d be hard to convince. “Not doing anything would get me deported, too. I’m just… desperate, at this point, I guess.” His lips set in a firm line. “I know it’s a crazy idea, but I’ve got no other choice at this point.”

Shiro obviously had his reservations. He was quiet for a moment, and he pulled his clasped hands to his mouth, sighing against them. “Keith, there has to be another way. A way that doesn’t include lying -- no, not even just lying! Breaking the law!” 

Keith furrowed his brows. He knew it wasn’t right to be annoyed with Shiro for arguing, but dammit, he’d wanted this to be easier. Shiro was kind enough to say yes to anything anyone wanted him to do, but also integrous enough to turn his friends down to do what was really right. He just wanted Shiro to see it his way, that he had no other choice in the matter. Shiro was his last hope. “There’s nothing, Shiro. Trust me, I’ve looked. Do you really think that I want to just get married to one of my friends? That’s the very last thing I wanted! But I--”

“Okay, well, let’s get married, then.” It was obvious that every fiber of Shiro’s body was telling him this was wrong, Keith could see it on his face. But the warm feeling blossoming in his chest was hard to ignore. He couldn’t bring himself to let Shiro out of this now that he’d said yes. 

I’m marrying Shiro. Keith wasn’t giddy, not yet - it hadn’t truly sunken in. It sounded like an abstract lie that he was telling himself to assuage the stress of graduating. He said yes. It was Keith’s turn to be at a loss for words. “Really?” He felt painfully guilty for that fleeting moment of irritation he felt towards Shiro. He didn’t deserve it. It was obvious that Shiro wasn’t entirely into this, and it probably went against everything Shiro stood for. 

Shiro scratched the back of his neck. “I mean… it’s probably a really, really bad idea, but… if it helps you stay, how can I argue?” He offered Keith a sweet smile, and Keith felt his heart jump into his throat. Damn Shiro and his charm. It made him feel guilty - of all the people to drag into this, why had it been Shiro? But of course, he didn’t know that he could trust anyone else. Lance would be the worst fit possible, and Pidge was a baby in Keith’s eyes. Hunk would take it seriously, but he trusted Shiro over anyone else. 

“...Thanks, Shiro,” Keith said quietly, suddenly feeling extremely bashful. He definitely hadn’t thought this through. He hadn’t the slightest idea of where to start. What do they do now? But he supposed the answer was fairly obvious. “So, I guess we gotta get married now, huh?” 

Shiro laughed sheepishly. He was obviously just as embarrassed, and Keith couldn’t help but think that it was charming as hell. “Yeah, I guess so.” His cheeks held the slightest tinge of pink that Keith knew for sure wasn’t there before. “We should probably do it pretty soon, right? To get everything started?” The serious expression he usually wore returned to his face. “Have you done any research about this?” 

“...Not yet,” Keith answered meekly. Honestly, it had been a spur of the moment thought, something he’d seen on TV. 

Shiro smiled benignly. “That’s okay. I’ll do some research tonight, and we’ll… get married tomorrow.” Keith could see in the older student’s eyes that he was having just as much trouble processing it as Keith himself was, which only made the guilt in the pit of his stomach grow. And Shiro was already taking this on head-first. He wasn’t hesitating to find out what he could, and honestly, Keith had expected it. But that didn’t quell the warm feeling growing in his chest. 

“Okay, cool. We’ll get married tomorrow.” He tried to sound as nonchalant as he possibly could, earning a grin from Shiro. “See you tomorrow then?” 

“See you tomorrow, fiance,” Shiro grinned, causing all the heat in Keith’s body to rush to his cheeks. How the hell was he going to survive this?


	2. The Vows

Keith’s heart hammered against his ribs as he approached the courthouse. This didn't feel real. It hadn't felt real as he repeated it to himself repeatedly the night before. He was marrying Shiro - this marriage felt every bit as real as it was fake. He didn't feel worthy of Shiro’s kindness, but he'd be damned if he was going to let it get away. 

The moment he pushed open the door, his white-haired fiance was the first thing he saw. And he was dressed to the nines in a black button-up shirt and a simple navy tie, complete with nice, pressed slacks. Keith had never seen Shiro so dressed up, and it sapped all of the moisture from his mouth. “Someone’s very prepared,” he observed with lifted eyebrows. But he wouldn’t expect any less from Shiro. Keith had also put effort into his appearance - his normally somewhat disheveled hair was tamed and brushed, and he wore a button up shirt and slacks sans a tie. But he didn’t look anywhere near as coifed as Shiro. Did he smell cologne? 

“Of course,” Shiro smiled in response. “Ready to get married?” 

“Sure.” God, was Keith nervous. His palms were clammy and his heart hadn’t calmed for a second since he walked in the door, but it was quite likely that the view that greeted him when he walked in was the culprit of that. This was truly terrifying. He’d never expected a commitment like this. He never thought he’d get married - fake or otherwise. He’d bounced around so much as a child, from home to home… and now he’d have some kind of stability in his life, even if it wasn’t for the best intentions. 

“So, I did some Googling last night and we should be able to get in and out pretty quickly. We just have to apply for the license, do a quick little marriage ceremony, and then we’ll be on our way.” The fact that Shiro had researched quite a bit put Keith at ease. “Then we can go about our day as usual. Except for the fact that we’ll be married.” 

Oh my god, we’ll be married in a few minutes. Keith’s brain was reeling. It was so much to take in all at once, but he felt strangely ready. Shiro had been by his side for the last four years, what harm would it be for a few more? “Right. Yeah. Nothing weird about that,” he chuckled under his breath. 

The two approached the reception desk, and Shiro took the lead. Keith didn’t hesitate to let him. “My boyfriend and I have come to apply for a marriage license,” Shiro greeted the woman with a smile. He even went so far as to reach for Keith’s hand, locking their hands loosely. Keith tried to ignore the fact that the gesture brought a blush to his cheeks. “Can we do that today?” 

“Of course! Congratulations,” the bright-eyed receptionist said, turning to the drawers in her desk. “Do you want to do the ceremony today too?” 

“Yes, please. I’m pretty impatient to marry this cutie,” Shiro grinned. Keith resisted the urge to hide his surely tomato-red face. He was doing a damn good job of selling their relationship, but if any amount of public affection was going to have this effect on Keith…. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly through his mouth. 

The receptionist mirrored Shiro’s admittedly contagious smile. “You two are so cute. Give me just a minute to see if we have a Justice of the Peace available. How long have you two been together?” she asked, trying to make small talk as she thumbed through what looked like a schedule. 

Shiro didn’t bat an eyelash at the question. “Going on four years,” he said. Keith wasn’t sure if he heard pride in the older man’s voice, or if that was just wishful thinking. “We met at the beginning of his freshman year of college and he’s graduating this year.” 

“Wow, you guys just have all kinds of exciting things going on!” It was obvious that her enthusiasm was forced, but it wasn’t unpleasant. “Okay, so we don’t have much scheduled for today -- a Justice of the Peace can see you in a few minutes. Go ahead and take a seat.” 

“Thank you,” Shiro said politely, releasing his grip on Keith’s hand, which the dark haired boy immediately missed. They took their seats in the waiting area, and Keith turned his attention to Shiro. 

“God, you make it seem so real,” he said under his breath. “Maybe you should’ve been an acting major.” 

Shiro chuckled, leaning in closer to Keith. “You’re right, maybe I should’ve. These next few years will be some good practice, right?” Keith wanted to laugh, but the comment got under his skin. Shiro was right - this entire marriage was a huge scam. An act. The only kind of commitment he’d ever had to anyone, and it would all be for the sake of getting a green card. In the end, he was still alone. 

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. 

Within about half an hour, the Justice of the Peace had gotten their marriage license completed and ushered them into one of the ‘wedding rooms’ for the makeshift ceremony. He was kind man who had insisted that they call him by his first name, Jeremy. He’d been quick to divulge the information that he was bisexual himself, and that he’d married his then boyfriend in a little ceremony like this, too. Keith had smiled at the story; it gave him a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t the end for him. This wouldn’t be as saddening as he was expecting. 

“Do you, Takashi Shirogane, take Keith Gyeong to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Jeremy was practically bursting with excitement, and Keith had to admit, it was contagious. 

“I do.” And that damned Shiro just had to meet Keith’s gaze with his answer. Keith felt as if he might dissolve into a puddle on the floor. 

“And do you, Keith Gyeong, take Takashi Shirogane to be your lawfully wedded husband?” 

It took Keith a second to stammer out his response. “I-I do.” It took a lot to make him tongue tied, but he’d gone from impossibly single to married in the course of less than 24 hours. There wasn’t much that he was truly prepared for. 

“Alright, well -- kiss your grooms!” Jeremy clapped his hands together, and it took all of Keith’s willpower not to gape. Shit, the kiss. He’d completely forgotten. People traditionally kiss at their weddings, and it would raise way too many red flags if they opted out. 

But always prepared Shiro didn’t hesitate. He pressed his lips lightly to Keith’s, adding the ever so intimate touch of cupping Keith’s chin with a hand. Keith found himself smiling into the kiss. This felt so surreal. It was easy to forget that this wasn’t real. But he was kissing Shiro. Shiro, arguably his closest friend, the one who had helped him through numerous sleepless, study-filled nights, the one who had kept him on track throughout his entire four years at school. The first person who would actually talk to him, despite his thick Korean accent. Did he have a crush? Whole-heartedly, sickeningly so. And hell, he was practically living out his dream. He was marrying the man that he’d pined after for probably the last two years. He didn’t want the kiss to ever end. He wanted to reach for Shiro and pull him closer, demanding the attention of his lips for as long as he could stand it. 

Shiro seemed quick to pull away. His face now also sported the same brilliant red that had stained Keith’s cheeks for the last 24 hours. “Congratulations!” Jeremy chirped, which was only answered by embarrassed chuckles from the now married men. “You can go to the reception desk and pick up your marriage certificate. I hope you boys have a nice honeymoon planned out!” 

“Thank you so much,” Shiro said politely, and Keith couldn’t keep his eyes off him. This man was truly the best man in the world. He was so selfless, possibly putting himself in danger for Keith’s sake alone. He truly didn’t deserve this. 

Once Jeremy had left, Keith finally regained the use of his vocal cords. “That was really easy.” 

Shiro laughed. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. So now we’re… married. Quick and painless.” He gestured with his head for Keith to follow him back towards the reception desk. 

Keith fell into step beside his taller husband. Husband. It was a strange thought. “This’ll be the easiest part,” he chuckled mirthfully. “We’ve got a lot ahead of us.” 

“You got that right,” Shiro sighed, the smile having slipped from his lips. Keith immediately felt guilty for bringing it up. “We have to get our whole story figured out--” He stopped for a moment before laughing sheepishly. “Even though I, uh, kind of took some liberties earlier. Sorry about that.” 

“No, no, you made it seem real,” Keith said quickly. “I couldn’t have done that on the fly like you did. We’re pretty damn believable, thanks to you.” 

“Good thing you’ve got an actor as a husband then, huh?” Shiro teased, waggling his eyebrows. Keith couldn’t help the laughter that passed his lips. Being around Shiro was effortless - maybe that was why he’d chosen him. How in the world could he possibly do this with anyone else? Shiro was everything anyone could possibly want in a husband - kind, loyal, loving, dedicated… and he was ruining the opportunity for anyone to get close to Shiro in any kind of romantic way. He was robbing Shiro of the opportunity to marry someone he really loved. 

The guilt made Keith’s heart physically ache. But a large, incredibly selfish part of him reminded him that he needed this, that if it wasn’t for Shiro agreeing to this, he’d be shipped back to Korea in a matter of weeks. “Thank you, Shiro,” he murmured, barely audible to anyone but himself. 

Shiro still heard, though. “You’re welcome, Keith.” 

\--

Keith was relieved to be out of the building. He felt lighter as they walked down the steps towards the parking lot. “So I guess the next step is actually applying for the green card, right?” he asked, looking up at Shiro. 

“I think so.” He clutched the marriage certificate in its manila envelope. The two had agreed that Shiro would be best to hold onto it - he was much more organized than Keith, or really, anyone that Keith had ever met. “We should probably get that done pretty soon.” 

Keith couldn’t keep his eyes off the envelope. Inside that envelope was the piece of paper that bound them - and the piece of paper that would play a massive part in keeping him in the country. “You should probably come with me too, right? Since you’re my husband and all… we’d probably go together.” 

“See, you’re thinking more and more like a husband, and we’ve only been married for about ten minutes!” Shiro teased lightly. “Yeah, you’re right. But we’ll have to go during the week… you have a lighter load of classes tomorrow than the rest of the week, right?” Shiro had always known everyone’s class schedules - how he remembered them all was beyond Keith. 

“Yeah. I can skip classes… as long as it’s okay with you.” He didn’t want Shiro to sacrifice any more than he already had for the sake of getting Keith’s green card. He had hoped that Shiro wouldn’t miss any classes, but he had a full class load. He’d have to miss a class or two, and Keith didn’t like that idea. 

Shiro nodded. “Alright, so… tomorrow. Things are moving so fast. At this rate, everything will be fine by graduation!” He grinned, and Keith was instilled with more hope than he’d ever had about this whole situation. He felt like having Shiro by his side would make anything possible. 

“Yeah. Tomorrow. See you then,” Shiro smiled. “Get home safely, Keith. Be careful.” 

No matter how many times Shiro said that, it still made Keith’s heart flutter. And it wasn’t as if it was only Keith that Shiro said it to. Shiro said it to everyone. That was just the kind of person that he was. Maybe that was why it sent Keith’s heart into a frenzy. “You too. ‘Night, Shiro.”

“Goodnight, husband.” Shiro said it with such a sly smile that Keith was completely convinced he’d done it with the sole intention of riling Keith up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me on tumblr @ suletama and we can cry over shiro / keith together  
> i hope you all are as excited as i am!!


	3. The Reception

Shiro couldn’t sleep. 

He’d been poring over his computer for the last few hours, and the light from the monitor was boring into his eyeballs. He could hardly blink. But God, was he stressed. As if finals weren’t a terrifying enough thought, he was married now. His husband was relying on him to know what he was doing and to not mess things up. _His husband._ He’d just said goodbye to Keith a few hours ago. They’d met up as friends and departed as husbands. On the list of things he’d expected to happen, that was easily the very last of them. 

He rubbed his hands over his tired face, a sigh passing his lips. Why had he agreed to this again? Oh, right - because he was just as desperate to keep Keith in the country as Keith was. It was a thought that he’d dreaded for years. Keith wasn’t going to stay permanently, as far as everyone knew. He’d be gone once he graduated from school, to make something of himself in his home country. And every time it came up in conversation, Shiro felt physically ill. He loved all of his friends, but there was a connection he had with Keith that he wasn’t sure he’d ever had with anyone else. He couldn’t lose Keith. 

He knew that he should’ve been focusing more on his finals than anything else, but he’d found his attention straying to looking up the process of getting a visa via marriage. And of course, the first links screamed ‘false marriage scam!’ ‘getting married for a green card!’ That itself was enough to make Shiro’s heart jump into his chest. That was what people would think. They’d think that Shiro was the anchor husband. Of course, it was _true,_ but they’d have to do a lot to prove otherwise. 

“God dammit,” he moaned under his breath, resisting the urge to bash his head against the desk. 

“Dude, you need to go to sleep. It’s like, 2 in the morning,” came Lance’s groggy voice from the other side of the room. Shiro’s eyes widened. _Shit._

He leaned back in his seat. “Sorry, Lance. Homework’s just taking a while tonight. I’ll turn the light down, though,” he half-whispered, dimming the backlight of his laptop. Lance gave a snore-like sound in response, and Shiro turned back to the computer. 

Forcing himself past the accusatory links, he found one discussing the process of applying. And damn, was it an intense one. He gulped. They would obviously go to extreme lengths to determine if Shiro and Keith were legitimate, and that was terrifying in itself. He reached for his phone and did the first thing he thought of - texted Keith. It was unlikely that the other boy would be awake right now, but he didn’t want to forget all this. 

_did you know that we’re going to be interviewed??? They’re going to ask us how we met and stuff and our story and wow we’re going to have to come up with a lot. And we’re supposed to provide wedding pictures??? We didn’t take pictures!!!!!!!!!_  
Sent: 2:23 am

Shiro all but slammed down the screen of his laptop. He didn’t want to face this tonight. They still had some time - they hadn’t even started the visa process yet. This was yet to come, and he didn’t want to think about it tonight. He was tired. But this was just the beginning. 

\-- 

Shiro had completely forgotten how early they had to be at the USCIS office. They’d gotten there at 7 am, in an attempt to beat the crowd. When they arrived, there were already a few people waiting, but they were close to the front of the line. “And now we wait,” Shiro chuckled. He just hoped the bags under his eyes weren’t as prominent as they felt. 

“Now we wait,” Keith sighed. He leaned against the cool brick of the building, casting his gaze down to the ground. At least he didn’t look too tired. Shiro hoped that he hadn’t been up late like he had. 

There was a brief moment of silence between them before Keith spoke up. “You were up late,” he commented. But he didn’t look up at Shiro, which concerned him. Surely Keith was just as worried about this as Shiro was. It had really just sunken in that they were married now. There was no turning back. They had to go through with this, whether they wanted to back out or not. 

Shiro chuckled. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep. So I figured I’d do something useful with my time,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. He really couldn’t sleep, but Keith didn’t have to know that it was because of this. “There’s a lot to this. We have to be prepared.” 

Keith nodded. “Yeah… more than I expected,” he said quietly. Shiro’s heart clenched. He didn’t like thinking that Keith felt guilty about this. If anything, this was fulfilling all of Shiro’s self-indulgent, incredibly selfish desires. Keith was staying here with him. And they were married. He would be a lying bastard if he said that he’d never dreamed of sweeping Keith off his feet and marrying him on the spot. Marrying Keith for the sole purpose of getting a green card wasn’t entirely out of Shiro’s realm of desire. Keith was staying with him, that was the important part. 

Shiro tried to mitigate some of Keith’s doubt. “But it’s easy. We just fill out a bunch of forms, take some fake wedding pictures, and make them believe that we’re in love.” _The latter won’t be hard for me at all._ “And then we’ll be good to go.” He spoke in a hushed tone. 

Keith looked up, giving a shadow of a smile. “You’re awfully optimistic,” he said with raised eyebrows. But he already seemed much calmer. “Thanks again, Shiro, really. You’re pretty much a lifesaver.” 

_Stop. I want to do this. I want you to stay with me and I’ll do anything it takes._ His chest was close to bursting with things that he wanted to say. He wanted to pull Keith close to him and take away any guilt, any doubts, any bad feelings that he had at all regarding their marriage. The very last thing he wanted was for Keith to feel guilty. “Of course, Keith. I’d do anything for you, you know that,” he said as glibly as he could manage. He was glad that he had the reputation of being the reputable friend. Everyone in their group knew that he would have done it for any of them. But maybe not as willingly as he did it for Keith. 

A rare grin tugged at Keith’s lips. “I know. You’re too nice for your own good,” he laughed. The comment made Shiro’s heart swell. It would be impossibly, almost unfairly, easy to be married to Keith. He felt like he was cheating. Fake marriages weren’t supposed to be easy. 

The line started moving, pulling Shiro from his thoughts. “Ready?” he asked with a smile. 

“Ready.”

\-- 

The process of getting checked in was long and exhausting, but Shiro held Keith’s hand the whole time. The guise of keeping up appearances would let him do _anything,_ but just the excuse to hold Keith’s hand was enough for him. But the surprise was Keith squeezing his hand. Shiro shot him a smile. He was nervous as all hell, and he was sure Keith was, too. But now they were seated, waiting for their names to be called. 

It took all of Shiro’s willpower not to fidget. He just wanted this over and done with. These people would likely be scrutinizing the both of them, staring them down, debating amongst themselves if they were fakes or not. And maybe they'd see right through their facade. He tried to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. He couldn't freak out now, not when he had Keith to be strong for. 

His hand came to rest on Keith’s knee - just a little touch for believability. It obviously took Keith by surprise; his head whipped up to look at Shiro, and once he realized who was touching him, he visibly relaxed. Shiro reveled in the reaction of his new husband. He was going to enjoy this, _a lot._

The wait ahead of them was long. Despite arriving early, there were quite a few people ahead of them. Shiro had brought some homework, just in case. The fact that he was skipping two, possibly three, classes to be here this morning didn't bode well for his final grade, so he was going to make damn sure that all of his homework was completely mistakeless. He didn't move his hand from Keith’s knee as he pulled a textbook from his bag. 

“You can take your hand back, you know,” Keith interjected as if reading Shiro’s mind. 

Shiro waved off Keith’s concern with his free hand. “I don't need it.” He’d gotten pretty good at doing things with one hand over the years. He flipped through his text book, but his mind wasn't entirely focused on his work. He was listening out for their names. 

He was so focused between the two things that he didn't notice Keith watching him. “You've been staring at the same spot in the book for the last five minutes. You're not absorbing any of that, are you?” he asked with raised eyebrows. 

Damn Keith and his perceptiveness. Shiro laughed. “Not really, no,” he said, seeing no use in lying when Keith knew better. 

But Keith stayed quiet. It was obvious just how much this was affecting him. Shiro wished he could take all that away. He fell silent as well, but only for a moment as their names were called. Keith blinked up at Shiro. “Let’s go be as gay as possible,” he said, even cracking a smile. 

\--

Keith let Shiro take the lead. As always. God, why couldn't he grow a pair and take charge? This was his doing, after all, not Shiro’s. It wasn't Shiro’s responsibility to make sure this went smoothly, no matter how much he acted like it was. 

They approached the counter and were greeted by a woman who quite obviously didn't want to be there. Shiro still greeted her with a smile. “Hi, good morning. We’re here just to fill out whatever forms necessary to get my husband’s green card application started. I'm not sure exactly what--” 

“Take a seat please, and I’ll get you the forms,” the woman behind the counter interjected. Keith looked at her nametag - Marge. She looked like a Marge. He would be angry, too, if his name was Marge, he thought. 

The two took their seats in front of the counter, and immediately, Keith reached out for Shiro’s hand and held it in his own. Shiro gave Keith’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Which one of you is the citizen?” 

“Me,” Shiro piped in. 

Marge pushed some forms towards him. “This is an Affidavit of Support. It just says that you're agreeing to support your husband financially. It's legally binding, so you might want to think about it hard if you haven't.” She peered over her glasses at Shiro expectantly, and Keith’s heart sank. This was so much responsibility, all to keep Keith here. And it was on Shiro’s shoulders, not Keith’s. He couldn't bring himself to look as Shiro signed the papers. _With no hesitation._ Keith wasn't sure if that was for show or because he really had no reservations, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to know either. 

Shiro was making small talk with Marge, but Keith couldn't bring himself to listen. He tried to look as engaged as he could. Shiro, as always, was the picture of exuberance and confidence. The smile on his face didn't falter, and he didn't let go of Keith’s hand for a second. There wasn't a second that went by that Keith didn't feel completely unworthy of the treatment he was getting. 

“So the next step is a biometrics appointment. You’ll be coming in for fingerprints,” she said, directing her gaze towards Keith. “We’ll give you a call to set that up. Keep an eye out for our call.”

“Thank you so much,” Shiro smiled. “We appreciate your help.” 

Keith was quick to stand up. He was more than ready to get out of there. The more they did towards getting Keith’s visa, the more uncomfortable he felt. He just wanted to run away, pretend like none of this had ever happened. He didn't want Shiro to have to deal with this anymore. 

Shiro reclaimed his grip on Keith’s hand as he rose from his seat as well. “Are you hungry, love?” he asked. Keith could see that Shiro was watching Marge out of the corner of his eye. He felt deflated. It _was_ just for show, but his stomach was growling fiercely. 

“Yeah, I actually am.” Keith fell into step beside Shiro as they headed for the exit. “Breakfast time?”

“More like lunch,” Shiro chuckled. Keith glanced down at his watch; it read 12:31. “I think I saw a noodle place across from here.” 

Keith’s stomach growled as if agreeing. He put a hand over it selfconsciously. “You're not going to miss class by going, are you?” 

Shiro waved off his concern. “Just one more. But these are all review days. I’ll just study extra hard tonight to make up for it,” he grinned. Keith fought back the desire to argue. He didn't want Shiro to miss any more classes for him, but he wasn't going to argue about having an extra hour or so with him. 

“You better. You have to support me now, remember? You have to be able to get a good job!” Keith teased. 

Shiro shoved Keith playfully. “You're lucky I just signed a legally binding contract agreeing to support your ungrateful ass,” he teased, throwing an arm around Keith’s shoulders. 

Keith found himself laughing as well. He leaned into Shiro slightly as they walked towards the noodle shop. “That's right, so you've got no excuse not to get a really well paying job and spoil me.” But in truth, Keith wished for the opposite. He had high hopes for after graduation; with his work visa, he would get a job that would allow him to truly repay Shiro for everything he'd done, whether their marriage ended in divorce or not. He was hoping for the latter, but he knew that was a long shot. 

Shiro held the door to the noodle shop open for Keith. “Okay, Keith, whatever you say,” he snorted, rolling his eyes good naturedly. 

After ordering their food, they took up occupation at a small table at the corner of the restaurant. It was very cafeteria-esque, and it was packed to the brim with customers. Keith focused his attention on Shiro. “I was thinking… this might be a good time to get our story straight,” he said finally. It was about time for him to step up, he thought. 

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He laced his fingers and rested his chin on them. “I mean, we don’t have to lie too much, right? We met when you started college over here and decided to get married when you graduated,” he shrugged. 

He made it seem so effortless. For what felt like the thousandth time, Keith felt an overwhelming wave of relief that Shiro seemed to be so much more put together than he was. “True. And our first date?” 

“Easy. Here.” 

“...First kiss?” 

“Probably somewhere in school. Horny teenagers and all that.” 

And that was how it went for a good hour. It seemed that, no matter what Keith threw at Shiro, he had an almost rehearsed answer. He couldn’t help but wonder if he _had_ rehearsed it. Keith bit his lower lip. “Do you really think we can do this?” he asked, almost shyly. 

Shiro’s face fell, and so did Keith’s heart. “I really hope so,” he murmured. This was the first time Keith had ever seen Shiro anything but completely confident. He looked tired. It was then that he remembered the barrage of text messages at two, three o’clock in the morning. Had Shiro been awake that late all this time? It had only been two days since he’d proposed this to Shiro, but if these last two days were any sign of how this would go in the future…. The two fell silent. 

“I trust you,” Keith finally said. “I know that you’ll do your best to make sure that things go… well, the way they’re supposed to. I don’t know if I could trust anyone else but you with this.” 

Shiro smiled an almost sad smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s half the battle, Keith. We have to trust each other. But at least we’ve known each other for a while. I don’t know if I could possibly trust you more than I do now.” 

Keith couldn’t help but think that was a lie. Shiro had never let Keith in, ever. He’d never told Keith anything personal about himself, but then again, Keith had never told Shiro anything about himself, either. Keith wasn’t sure he knew how to have a profound trust in anyone. “Me too,” he agreed. Keith picked at his ramen absent-mindedly. He wanted to trust Shiro. He wanted Shiro to trust _him._ But the last thing he wanted to do was force Shiro into divulging information about himself that he didn’t want to. 

“I lost my parents in a fire when I was twenty.” Shiro’s words yanked Keith from his thoughts. _Wait, what?_ He didn’t get a moment to process it before Shiro was talking again. “They owned this little shop downtown. It was a bakery cum convenience store. Kind of a weird place, but that kind of weird that people liked. It had that small town feel about it. Everyone knew everyone. We had more regular customers than not.” Shiro wasn’t looking at Keith, but Keith’s gaze was fixed solely on Shiro. “But one day, we got robbed. The guy had a gun, but so did my dad, and he killed the guy. Next thing you know, the place is on fire. We guess the guy had backup. My parents made sure the customers all got out before they could even guess what was going on.” 

Keith didn’t know what had prompted this, but he wracked his brain, trying to piece together the perfect combination of words. But all that came out was a garbled “I’m so sorry, Shiro.” 

But once again, Shiro waved him off. “I wasn’t saying it for you to feel sorry for me. We need to trust each other, right? And that was me trusting you.” Keith pretended like he didn’t hear the slight waver in Shiro’s voice. He didn’t think he could’ve possibly adored Shiro more than he did at that moment. 

“Shiro….” Keith’s voice trailed off. “I don’t know… I….”

“You don’t have to say anything. I was just throwing it out there. We gotta take our time, you know, and get to really know and trust each other. Because we’re in this together, right? All the way?” Shiro shot Keith a brilliant grin. 

_Oh my god, I love him._ “Yeah. We are,” Keith said with as wide of a smile as he could muster. “Thank you for trusting me even though I made probably the stupidest, least educated decision in the entire damn world.” 

“Yeah, you kinda did,” Shiro teased. “But that’s okay. We’re in this together, and we’re going to have everyone convinced that we’re the realest husbands in the world.” And Shiro truly looked confident in that fact. 

It made Keith confident, too. 

\--

It was late by the time Keith returned to his dorm. It had been hard to leave Shiro. It always had been, but tonight, it was hard not to beg his new husband to return to the dorm with him. But they parted ways and Keith could hear Shiro’s ‘goodnight, husband’ ringing in his head. He’d said it again tonight. He didn’t think he would complain if it became an every night thing. 

“Where’ve you been, dude? Usually you come back after class!” Hunk greeted him with a grin. Keith froze. 

“Where have _you_ been?” Keith shot back a little too quickly, plopping down on his bed. He knew that they couldn’t tell any of their friends, but it was hard to keep the secret, especially all of their friends were mutual ones. Surely, they’d notice something. But he hoped that they weren’t quite that perceptive. 

Hunk blinked, obviously trying to process the question. “...Here…? Where else would I have been?” He gasped. “Oh, wait-- no, I was at the dining hall, too. And then I went to the library with Lance, and-- did you know that Shiro’s been out all night too? Me and Lance were bored.” 

_Yeah, I know. He was out. With me. And not Lance._ Keith tried his hardest to keep his childish pride at bay, but it shone through in the slight smirk that tugged at the corner of his lips. He didn’t think Hunk noticed. “Weird. I was just doing a little extra credit work in the classroom. Now I’m beat.” 

“Extra credit work? Damn, I wish I was as proactive as you. But that’s way too much work for me. I can hardly even do my normal credit work,” he guffawed. “Get some sleep, dude, you look beat.” 

“Trust me, I am,” he mumbled, shoving his face into his pillow. As he fell asleep, the last thing he thought of was Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for all the sweet, encouraging comments!!! you're the best! :D


	4. The Honeymoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i've been cranking out chapters like crazy and i'm sorry for not giving you guys much of a break in between them!!   
> or am i?? ;)

The following day found the newlyweds in the library with Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Allura. It would allow Keith some time to focus solely on studying for finals, which he accepted gratefully. He had nothing to worry about for the moment - it was now a waiting game, and the ball was in USCIS’s court. The thought stressed him out, but he allowed studying for finals to come to the forefront of his mind. 

The first few minutes of their meeting was small talk; catching up after the last few days of missing each other. “Yeah, man, I’ve been able to sleep real good - it helps when your roomie’s never in the room anymore,” Lance snorted, casting a glance over in Shiro’s direction. The statement was good-natured, judging by the grin on Lance’s face, and Shiro huffed in response. 

“You should be thanking me, not complaining,” he laughed, taking his seat across from Keith. The two shared a knowing glance, and Keith’s heart swelled. He felt a petty satisfaction in knowing - or at least, thinking that he knew - that he was Shiro’s favorite. He still liked to think that was the truth. 

Hunk sat beside Keith, elbowing his roommate. “Yeah, man, what gives? You're never in the room anymore!” 

“Two days pass and suddenly I’m ‘never in the room,’” he mumbled in response. But he knew Hunk would never give him a hard time about anything. He was one of the sweetest natured people Keith knew, and it was a rare day when Keith was ever actually irritated by him. He hadn't taken Hunk’s questioning to heart. And Hunk seemed to know that. He didn't think anything of Keith’s lackluster response. He just hoped that Shiro wasn't getting too much grief from Lance. Lance was nosy, and right now, they couldn't risk anyone being nosy. Especially not Lance. 

“Well, the important part is that we’re all together now,” Allura piped in, looking up from her book. Keith shot her a thankful smile. He’d never liked his friends prying in on his business, and especially now, he didn’t think he’d be able to come up with a believable lie on the spot. 

Lance huffed, jamming his fist into his cheek. “I don't wanna do this anymore. Did any of you guys finish the homework for Lowry’s class?” 

“I think we all did,” Allura giggled. “Do you need help?” 

“Maybe you should actually try. That might help,” Keith said simply. Sometimes, it was fun to rile Lance up. When he was mad, a little vein in his forehead bulged. It was the simple things in life that made Keith happy. 

“Oh, yeah, like you're a shining example of a student, Keith! Did you even do yours?” Lance was always so quick to yell back. And there it was - the vein. Keith enjoyed his victory silently. 

He brandished his to Lance, holding it just out of his reach. “Right here.” 

“Gimme!”

“Lance, would you stop?!” Shiro’s voice broke into the discussion, causing both boys to stop dead in their tracks. It wasn't like Shiro to single out one of them unless they'd really done something wrong, and if anything, Keith had been the instigator. 

Lance blinked. “Hey, Keith started it!” 

“Stop it,” Shiro repeated blankly. “I’m gonna head out, guys.” 

Keith had to be quick. “Yeah, actually, me too! I just remembered there's a… thing going on.” He gave everyone a quick wave and gathered up hi's things, practically having to run to catch up with Shiro. 

Trying to ignore the lump forming at the back of his throat, he loosely grabbed at Shiro’s arm to get his attention. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, catching up with Shiro’s long strides. 

“Yeah, of course. Why?” Shiro asked with a plain smile, as if Keith’s question were the most ridiculous one he’d ever heard. 

Keith was prepared for this. Shiro never told anyone anything. He wasn’t sure he or any of their friends had ever seen Shiro anything but happy, and Keith highly doubted that was just because he was a happy person. “You just seemed… kinda mad.”

“Lance was being an ass,” Shiro laughed. But Keith heard it in everything that Shiro did. His laugh was duller than usual, his voice flatter. After four years of listening to Shiro speak nearly every day, it was hard to ignore things like that. 

Keith shrugged. “But Lance is always an ass. You don’t usually get… _that_ mad.” He stopped. “But… thank you anyway, for sticking up for me. Lance can kind of get on my nerves sometimes.” 

“Of course,” Shiro smiled. “Um, I’m going to head back to my dorm, but I’ll see you later, okay?” 

Keith’s heart clenched. Shiro was being avoidant; he knew he should probably give him his space, but the concern welling in his chest wouldn’t allow him. “Can I come with you?” he asked bravely. “I mean, Hunk’s going back to my dorm to hang out with Lance for the night, so… I don’t know if I wanna be around them. They’ll be _loud._ ”

Shiro chuckled. “Yeah, you’re probably right. You can come if you want,” he said, and Keith could’ve sworn that he heard the slightest bit of reluctance in his tone. Keith didn’t want to pry, but he was worried. He knew Shiro, and if there was something bothering him, there was no one that he would turn to. He needed someone. 

They returned to Shiro’s dorm, and Keith welcomed the silence. He loved living with Hunk - he was easily the most considerate roommate anyone could’ve possibly wished for. But most of the time, where Hunk was, Lance was. And the two of them combined… Keith could only handle so much. Within about an hour or two of the friends being together, Keith had a pounding headache and an overwhelming desire to sleep. Shiro’s room was dead silent. 

The groan of Shiro’s bed frame under his sudden weight drew Keith from his thoughts, and he glanced over at the older student, who was now sprawled across his bed. His eyes were already closed. “I don’t know why you wanted to come over. I doubt I’ll do anything, I’m too tired,” Shiro laughed quietly. 

Keith rubbed his hands over his face. God, this _was_ all his fault. He perched at the edge of Shiro’s mattress, settling just beside Shiro’s hip. “Is that why you’ve been in such a pissy mood? Because you’re tired?” he asked teasingly. 

Shiro reached over to smack Keith’s leg. “Shut up.” But he flashed Keith that beautiful smile, a smile tinged with fatigue, and it was nearly enough to make Keith burst into tears. He held so much concern and compassion in his heart for Shiro - knowing that something he had done was affecting him so badly made him feel like the worst human alive. He wanted to burrow deep into the earth and stay there. 

But Shiro sighed. “I haven’t been sleeping all that well lately. Bad dreams.” The last two words were mumbled, and he rolled over onto his side, facing Keith. His cheek squished against the pillow, puffing out his lips, and it was easily the most charming sight Keith had seen in quite a while. 

Selfishly, Keith was glad that it wasn’t so much their current affairs that were making him feel this way. “Take a nap now. I’ll wake you up if you look like you’re having a bad dream,” he offered. “I’ll get some cold water ready and I’ll dump it over your head. You won’t even have a chance to have a bad dream.” 

Shiro laughed, but Keith couldn’t ignore the fact that his eyes had grown misty. “Thanks, Keith, but I’m okay. I’m just gonna veg out. It’ll be nice to relax.” 

Keith had an idea. He rose, only to sit back down at the edge of the bed with his legs tucked under him. “Come here, put your head in my lap,” he said, patting his thighs with his hands. 

Shiro didn’t say a word. He lifted his head slowly, as if it were somehow heavier than usual. Keith hoped that wasn’t how Shiro felt. He knew how it felt, to feel like dragging yourself through life was a struggle in itself. How all he had wanted to do was crawl into bed and do nothing, except for maybe sleep; you couldn’t feel when you slept. It was such a crippling, exhausting feeling, and thinking that Shiro could possibly feel that way too made his heart ache. 

He cleared his throat. “I was in a foster house once, with this really nice family… and at night, I would lay on the couch with my foster parents. My foster mom would make me lay my head in her lap and she had these really long nails that felt _so_ damn good on my head. She’d dig in and just scratch and I was in heaven,” he laughed. He repeated the motion on Shiro’s head, rubbing lazy circles on Shiro’s scalp, fingernails barely grazing the skin. “But it always put me to sleep, without fail. I don’t think I actually went to bed _in bed_ the entire time I was with them.” 

Keith had never talked about his foster families with anyone else before. It was strange to rehash the feelings. There were so many foster families that for the most part, they were an unintelligible blur. He didn’t know where one began and one ended. But there was the odd one that stood out in his mind, and he’d never spoken of them aloud before. 

“She sure knew what she was doing,” Shiro mumbled, voice thick with fatigue. His eyes were closed, and he emitted a low hum of content. 

Keith silently reveled in his victory. All he’d wanted was for Shiro to relax. 

But the victory was short-lived. Shiro’s body jolted, and he sat up quickly. “Man, you can’t do that, I’ll fall asleep!” he laughed, a little too abruptly. 

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you want to sleep? You kept saying how tired you were.” But as soon as he said it, he remembered - the bad dreams. Shiro was scared of having more bad dreams. He backpedaled. “I’m sorry. You just look so tired, and you obviously need some sleep….” He reached out to smooth an unruly lock of white hair from Shiro’s face. “I’m here, you know, if you do have a bad dream.” 

It was then that Shiro finally gave in - whether it was related to the fact that Keith was there, he wasn’t sure. Maybe he was just that tired that he was willing to risk it. Keith’s heart was pounding. What was he supposed to do if Shiro had a nightmare? 

But before closing his eyes, Shiro looked up at Keith. “Would it be weird to ask you to lay down with me?” he asked, a bashful smile tugging at his lips. “It just helps knowing that I’ve got someone else around, you know?” 

Keith was elated, and he wasn’t entirely sure that he wasn’t dreaming. This was all he’d ever wanted. “Well, you’re going to have to scoot over a little bit, because you’re taking up the entire bed,” he teased, shifting to regain his bearings next to Shiro. Shiro moved over, allowing Keith the other half of the bed. 

“Could you… wake me up in an hour?” Shiro asked. “I don’t want to sleep too long.” 

“Sure.” Keith set the reminder on his phone, and Shiro rolled onto his other side, facing away from Keith. 

Seeing the steady rise and fall of Shiro’s figure as he attempted to sleep warmed Keith’s heart. He’d never expected for Shiro to trust him with so much. But knowing what was bothering Shiro only made that overwhelming desire to hold him even stronger. Keith wanted to scoop Shiro up in his arms and hold him, do whatever it took to take all the stress away from him. He felt helpless to simply lay there and watch. Shiro had so much on his plate, and Keith was only adding to it. He bit his lip, trying to ward off the guilty feelings. But they had embedded themselves deep in his being. All of this responsibility, all of the looming reminders that hard times were coming up couldn’t be helping Shiro’s situation at all. 

He sighed, resting his forehead against Shiro’s strong back. He was trying, he really was - to let Shiro in as Shiro had let him in. Divulging information about his foster family had been hard enough. But truthfully, he was terrified. He was terrified by how quickly he was falling for this seemingly perfect man. He wanted to love Shiro - but did he really? Love was an entirely foreign concept to Keith, one that he wasn’t comfortable with in the slightest. But he could see himself loving Shiro. He could see himself proclaiming everlasting love for this man, staying by his side every day, waking up to that face in the mornings. 

Maybe he already loved Shiro. Maybe all these heart-wrenching feelings were proof that Keith was completely, head over heels in love with Shiro. His husband. That wasn’t bad, right? 

But what if Shiro wanted a divorce after this? What if he wanted to actually live his own life and find someone that he actually loved to marry? He swallowed the lump forming at the back of his throat. Tears fogged his vision. 

“I don’t want you to love anyone else, Shiro,” Keith whispered into the cloth of Shiro’s shirt. Surely, Shiro was asleep, so he wouldn’t hear, right? He was answered by a light snore. “You’re so perfect. I want to be selfish and keep you to myself. But I want you to be happy, too. Whether that’s with me, or someone else… I don’t mind. But I really hope it’s with me.” 

Shiro hummed in his sleep, and Keith sighed. It felt strange to say all that out loud. But he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He wanted Shiro to know - even if it was just whispered to him in his sleep. 

An hour had easily passed, and Keith hadn't the heart to wake Shiro up. He seemed peaceful. The only thing he did was snore slightly, and Keith found that so damn cute that he felt he would be pretty annoyed with himself if he did anything to disturb that. 

But he didn't have to. Shiro grunted, immediately piquing Keith’s attention. Keith sat up, peering over Shiro’s shoulder. His lips had curled into a scowl, and Keith didn't take any chances. 

“Shiro, hey, come on. Wake up.” He shook Shiro gently by the shoulder. 

Shiro recoiled. 

“Get off!” The gruffness of Shiro’s voice scared him. He pulled back, only for Shiro to shove him with a force that sent Keith off the bed. 

His elbow met the bedside table with a crack, and he hissed in pain as he collided with the floor. The fall wasn't hard but his elbow was throbbing. “Ouch, fuck,” he muttered, rubbing the offending joint. 

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice had returned to normal, and Keith saw him sit up. He blinked down at the dark haired boy. “What are you doing?” 

Keith simply stared for a moment. His mind was a jumble of emotions - his first instinct was to feel hurt. He’d been there for Shiro, waited by him while he slept, only to be rejected. But he knew it wasn't Shiro’s fault. 

“Uh, you pushed me.” Keith tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but the effort didn't lessen the guilt on Shiro’s face. 

Realization flickered in his eyes. “Oh my god, Keith, I-- the dream--” 

Keith scrambled to his feet. “No, no, don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean to,” he said quickly, but frustrated tears were bubbling behind his eyelids. _Dammit, Keith, keep it together._

The tears hadn't gone unnoticed by Shiro. “Keith, I’m so sorry. I didn't mean to, I swear. I--” This was the first time Keith had seen Shiro at a loss for words. He was floundering, searching for the right words. 

And Keith was sure that if he tried to talk, he would start blubbering. He was frustrated - he had so desperately wanted to think that being there for Shiro would've taken away all of the pain, and that he would've slept peacefully just knowing that Keith was there. But he wasn't a cure all, and he knew that. 

He was frustrated by how much he cared. 

“I’m gonna go get some fresh air,” Keith blurted out. The last thing he wanted to do was leave. But if he didn't, he’d start crying. Shiro didn't need to see that. 

He was out the door before he gave Shiro a chance to say anything. 

He hurried to the public bathroom of the residence hall and locked himself in a stall, pressing his back to the cool metal of the door. He buried his face in his hands, willing himself to keep it together. He was the one that was crying, but Shiro was the one who was suffering. 

_Selfish, selfish, selfish!!_ He bit down into his palm in an attempt to push down the sob rising in his throat. God, he just loved Shiro so fiercely that he didn't know what to do with himself. And it had all hit him at once. Learning the intimate workings of Shiro’s mind, seeing him at his most vulnerable… he was seeing things that he shouldn't be seeing. These kind of things involved a level of trust that terrified Keith. They were closer now than they ever were before. 

That only meant that Shiro would end up slipping away, just like everyone else had. The moment he got close to anyone, they were pulled away from him. He was passed around like a child’s toy, never staying in one place for very long. He never kept anyone, and Shiro would be no exception. 

But he really, really didn't want to lose Shiro. He needed Shiro, for more than just his green card.


	5. Honeymoon Phase

Shiro felt horrible for what had happened. 

Neither of them had talked for the last few days. Awkward avoidance had been the only contact that they’d had, and Shiro didn’t like it. But what could he do? 

The look Keith had given him was still burned into Shiro’s mind. His eyes had gone wide, and he looked as if someone had slapped him. As if _Shiro_ had slapped him. 

But Shiro couldn’t help it. Lance had told him quite a few times that he thrashed around in his sleep, which was usually the product of his nightmares. He’d been so selfish, wanting Keith there with him while he slept that he’d forgotten. He’d only thought about how badly he wanted Keith by his side. And while he was falling asleep, he’d been the happiest man in the world. All he needed was that little bit of pressure from Keith’s forehead pressing against his back, reminding him that Keith was indeed there. He’d never fallen asleep so quickly. 

And then he’d gone and ruined it. 

Shiro raked his fingers through his hair. He needed to go and see Keith - to make things right. It had been close to a week, but it had easily felt like years. He missed Keith, and a selfish part of him hoped that Keith missed him, too. 

He headed for Keith’s dorm room, hoping that Hunk wasn’t there. He knocked at the door, and within moments, he was greeted by Keith’s tired face. A look of surprise flickered across his features. “Oh. Shiro.” 

Shiro forced a smile. “Hey. I was just coming by to, um, see how you’re doing.” 

Keith gave a slight shrug in response. “I’m alright. What about you?” he asked, and stepped to the side. “Do you wanna come in?” 

Shiro accepted Keith’s invitation with a polite smile, grateful to see that Hunk was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t leaving this room until things were back to normal, no matter how much he had to apologize. And judging by the look on Keith’s face, it would be a lot of apologizing. 

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Shiro blurted out the second the door closed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you before. I really didn’t. I didn’t have any control of what I was doing, and I know that’s no excuse, but… I feel horrible, especially since all you were doing was helping me.” 

But Keith’s reaction surprised him. “I know you didn’t mean to. It just… scared me a little, I guess,” he murmured. He refused to look up at Shiro. “And I felt bad because I couldn’t help.” 

Shiro sighed. This was precisely why he didn’t like people knowing. He didn’t want anyone to feel responsible for helping him. No one could. He’d gone to doctors upon doctors, who only offered to give him medicine that rendered him completely devoid of feelings altogether. He would’ve rather dealt with the nightmares than lose the little enjoyment he had in life. It was something he’d learned to deal with over the last few years. He didn’t want it to be anyone else’s burden, especially not Keith’s. “You have no reason to feel guilty,” he promised. “There wasn’t anything you could’ve done.” He reached out towards Keith with both hands. “Can I see your arm? Does it still hurt?” 

A nasty purple and green bruise had blossomed on Keith’s elbow, and Shiro winced. “God, that looks like it hurts.” 

“Only if I press on it,” Keith laughed quietly. “It’s nowhere near as bad as it looks.” He looked up at Shiro finally, meeting his gaze, and Shiro’s heart leaped into his throat. “It was worth it, though. I mean… you slept for a little while and I was there with you. I can’t really complain about that.” 

Shiro grinned. _God, he’s perfect._ “There’s no way watching me sleep could’ve possibly been that interesting,” he laughed, and Keith gestured for them to sit on his bed. Shiro settled next to him. “But I was glad you were there.” He gave a slight gasp. “Oh-- Has anything happened? Did USCIS contact you about the biometrics appointment?” 

The smile slid from Keith’s lips, which immediately concerned Shiro. “I went on my own yesterday,” he said quietly. 

_Oh._ Shiro tried his hardest to conceal his disappointment, but he wasn’t sure it showed through on his face. “You should’ve told me, Keith. I would’ve come with you.” 

“I didn’t know if you’d want to see me,” Keith admitted, once again refusing to look up at Shiro. “But it wasn’t very interesting. They took fingerprints and that was about it.” 

That didn’t do much to quell Shiro’s guilt. “Did they tell you anything else? You know, what to expect next?” he asked. 

“Yeah.” Shiro could’ve sworn that Keith’s voice cracked. “They told me about, um, the interview. That’s the next big step. We’re going to have to talk to them separately and tell our stories of how we met, and show a bunch of pictures proving that we’ve been together for a while.” 

And then, the floodgates opened. “There’s so much that we have to do, Shiro, and we have so little time! The interview’s in, like, two weeks, and somehow we’re supposed to prepare for that?!” Hysterics crept into the edge of Keith’s words, and Shiro instinctively wrapped his arms around Keith.

“Hey, don’t worry. We can do this. We’ve got time,” he murmured, though he wasn’t sure if he believed the words himself or not. That was a terrifying thought - that they’d have to prove their marriage to all of these likely already suspicious people and they’d have to make it pretty damn believable. 

Keith’s entire frame was trembling in Shiro’s arms, strangled sobs escaping his lips. The sound alone was enough to bring tears to Shiro’s eyes. He buried his nose into Keith’s shoulder. “You can cry,” he whispered. “I promise I won’t give you a hard time about it.” 

Shiro could’ve sworn that he heard the slightest chuckle, buried underneath the sobs that Keith finally allowed to escape. Shiro held him as tightly as he could. Keith was tucked under his chin, and Shiro cradled him, willing his own tears not to fall. 

He was just as scared as Keith was. This was it - this was their _real_ test, and this wasn’t even the end. They still had so much ahead of them. Shiro choked back a whimper of his own, instead focusing his energy on rubbing Keith’s back in an attempt to sooth him. 

“I’m so sorry that I pulled you into this,” Keith croaked, sentence punctuated by a wet sniffle. “I’m so sorry. It’s so much, it’s so stressful, and you’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart and I don’t deserve it.” He erupted into tears again, and Shiro was sure he could feel his heart breaking. 

He’d never wanted Keith to feel guilty for this. If anything, Shiro had jumped at this opportunity. Sure, it went against every word of his set of morals, but dammit, there wasn’t a single thing he wouldn’t do for Keith. “Stop it. I didn’t have to agree to this. You didn’t force me,” he whispered against the cloth of Keith’s shirt. “I’m doing this for you.” _Because I love you._

“I’m so stressed out,” Keith breathed, obviously trying to calm himself, “but this is all for me. I can’t imagine how you could possibly be feeling. I-I’m so sorry.” His attempts did nothing to calm the tears threatening to fall, and if anything, they coerced Shiro’s. 

Shiro squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth as a stubborn sob rose in the back of his throat. “I just don’t want to screw this up for you.” His words were broken as the sobs fought their way forward. He burst into tears, pulling Keith closer to him, if it were at all possible. It felt so _good_ to cry, but he’d never wanted to cry in front of Keith. 

Shiro’s tears only fed into Keith’s, and he started up again, too, balling Shiro’s shirt into his fists. Neither of them spoke. They let loose the tears that they’d been holding in for weeks, seeking solace in each other’s company. It was comforting, at least, to know that neither of them were going through this alone. Shiro felt good knowing that he was there for Keith, even if he wasn’t being much of a comforter. 

He didn’t think he’d ever cried like this in front of anyone, not since he was younger. Ever since the death of his parents, he’d learned to deal with things alone. He held everything in until he was close to exploding. That was just what he’d grown accustomed to. He’d never wanted to grow accustomed to it. He’d always been an emotional person, and with Keith throwing a wrench into the way he dealt with things… he felt better. 

Their tears started to dwindle, and Shiro felt as if all of the moisture had been sapped from his body. He was tired, and he was sure that Keith was, as well. His grip had loosened on Shiro’s shirt, but Shiro found himself still idly tracing circles on Keith’s back with his fingertips. “Are you okay?” Shiro whispered, voice still thick with tears. 

“Mm-hm,” Keith managed, not making a move to disentangle himself from Shiro. “Are you?” 

“Yeah.” Shiro wasn’t entirely sure how true that was. When was the last time he'd truly felt okay? But this was an improvement. He kept his face buried in Keith’s shoulder, but Keith was the one to pull away. Shiro immediately missed the warmth of Keith’s thin frame against his. 

Keith’s red-rimmed eyes met Shiro’s. “Your eyes are really pretty now,” he murmured. “They’re all, like, sparkly.” 

“That’s because I’ve been crying, idiot.” Shiro laughed, brushing a wet strand of hair from Keith’s eyes. “You can’t tell any of the others that I actually cry.” 

“Oh, of course not. No one else can know that the great Shiro actually has emotions,” Keith teased softly. Shiro rolled his eyes, but he knew that he could trust Keith. He _really_ trusted Keith. It wasn’t this superficial trust that he had in his friends, the trust that allowed him to know that they were there for him but wouldn’t let him open up to them. This was a trust that burrowed its way into Shiro’s heart, burning Keith’s name inside him. “I like that you have emotions. I mean, I knew that you did before, because of how much you worry about all of us… but I wish you’d let people worry about you sometimes, too.” 

Keith’s statement caught Shiro off guard. Why would Keith _want_ to worry about him? He didn’t need that burden on his shoulders. “I haven’t told you _not_ to worry about me,” he murmured, fanning himself with a hand. Keith’s warmth seemed to still be enveloped around him. 

“Yeah, you have. Lots of times. You’ve told all of us not to,” Keith pointed out. “But you’re not the boss of me.” 

Shiro snorted. “Respect your elders,” he laughed. It was a comforting thought, to know that someone was worrying about him as much as he was worrying about them. Truthfully, Keith had been the subject of the majority of his thoughts for the last few weeks. Not a second went by that he wasn’t worried about Keith. And maybe, Keith was the same when it came to Shiro. 

Keith huffed. “You wish.” Shiro couldn’t help but notice that Keith’s cheeks were still fairly pink. “God, you’re like a radiator. I’m _still_ hot.”

Shiro frowned. He was just as hot - his long sleeved shirt wasn’t very forgiving, but usually, the dorms weren’t quite this warm. Then again, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d held someone that closely and swapped so much body heat. “Is the air conditioning on?” He reluctantly rose from the bed to stick his head out the door. Normally, he’d be able to feel a burst of chilly air from the air conditioner going full blast in the hallway, but he didn’t. 

“I think the A/C is out,” he sighed, closing the door behind himself. That was _just_ what they needed. Shiro’s long sleeved shirt and jeans were making him hot, and fast. 

“Awesome,” Keith groaned. “No more cuddling and crying then, huh?” Shiro knew that Keith was joking, but he had to admit, he wouldn’t have complained about continuing what they were doing before, sans crying. 

Shiro sprawled out on the floor. He always generated a lot of body heat, and the lack of air conditioning was only going to make that worse. “Definitely not.” He really didn’t like this. Heat while he was outside was one thing, but inside? It reminded him of something he would rather forget. His chest felt tight. 

Keith rolled onto his stomach, peering over the edge of the bed at Shiro. “Your face is bright red,” he commented. 

Shiro covered his face with his hands. “Shut up,” he laughed. “God, it must’ve gone off while we weren’t paying attention. It got hot _fast._ ” Really fast. By now, Shiro was sweating bullets, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the heat or because of the anxiety welling in his chest. 

“You’re telling me. I’m gonna change into some shorts, so… don’t look,” Keith warned, hopping off the bed and crossing the floor to his closet. Shiro resisted the urge to sit up. Surely he was joking. Was Keith really going to change with Shiro right there in the room? 

He didn’t remove his hands from his face, no matter how badly he wanted to. The thought that Keith was changing, right there in front of him, where he could quite easily see if he tried hard enough… it was a tease from hell. _Damn him._

“Okay, done. Do you want a t-shirt to change into?” Keith asked. “Or some shorts or something? I bet you’re really hot in all that.” 

Shiro bit his lip, removing his hands from his face. He could definitely go for losing some clothing, but at what risk? Having Keith see his horribly disfigured arm and possibly never find Shiro attractive ever again? He drew his arm to his chest self-consciously. If anything, now was a good opportunity to practice another exercise in trust. He had to trust that Keith wouldn’t judge - but if he himself couldn’t keep from judging, how could he expect anyone else to? It was time to bite the bullet. Maybe it would help to calm him down a bit, too. “Just a t-shirt should be fine, thanks.” He wanted to take the words back the moment they left his mouth. 

But Keith was quick to throw him a shirt. It smelled of Keith and suddenly, he didn’t regret asking for it anymore. He hadn’t worn short sleeved shirts in such a long time, and his every nerve stood on edge. “You can’t look,” he warned, just as Keith had. 

Keith held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I won’t,” he laughed, covering his face with his hands. 

Shiro swallowed thickly, ignoring every fiber of his body that was screaming at him to maintain the ever so comfortable coverage that he’d maintained for all these years. He changed from his black long-sleeved shirt to the plain white v-neck shirt that Keith had thrown at him. The mottled, pinkish flesh of his right arm was a stark contrast against the bleach white of the shirt, and immediately, Shiro hated it. It was nothing but scar tissue. “You can look now,” Shiro said, trying not to sound as self-conscious as he felt. 

Immediately, Shiro caught Keith staring. It was easy to tell that he was trying not to, but Shiro had done a good job of covering it. No one knew about it - no one had seen it, even Hunk, despite the fact that they’d been roommates for the last four years. The combination of Keith’s staring and the stifling heat in the room was only working against him, as if the heat was wrapping around his body, constricting him. He tried to play it off. “It’s still way too hot in here. Do you think it’s any cooler outside?” 

“No, dummy, it’s summer,” Keith said, gaze flickering from Shiro’s arm to meet his gaze and then back again. 

It was obvious that this wasn’t going to go ignored. He could practically see in Keith’s eyes how badly he wanted to ask about it. He’d taken a lot of risks with Keith lately, what harm could one more do? “You remember that dream I had?” That was a stupid question, he thought - how could Keith not remember the dream that made Shiro shove him off the bed and nearly break his elbow? “My parents… you know, the whole fire thing?” He took in a deep breath, but it didn’t feel like enough. “I, um, had tried to go in and save them, but--”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Keith interrupted, sliding from the edge of the bed to settle on the floor in front of Shiro. “You’ve told me so much personal stuff about you already, and I can tell it’s hard for you. Don’t dig up bad memories if you don’t have to.” The softness of his tone surprised Shiro, and he couldn’t deny that he was relieved to hear Keith say that. “Are you okay?” 

Shiro was embarrassed. First, it was the crying. Now this? He fought to take in a deep breath, but once again, his chest wouldn’t allow him. He exhaled slowly through his mouth. “The heat… I can’t handle it when it gets too hot indoors. It, uh….” 

“I get it.” Keith offered Shiro a soft smile. “Anything I can do to distract you?”

“Talk about you.” Shiro was almost embarrassed by how quickly he’d said it. But if there was anything that he could get lost in, it was Keith. He wanted to hear about Keith - he wanted to know everything right down to the kind of toothpaste he used. Hearing about Keith would be a welcome distraction. 

Keith’s eyes widened a fraction, and he went silent for a moment. “When I was younger, when I lived in Korea, I bounced around a lot. I lived with all kinds of different foster families. I never stayed in one for more than a few months. Well, except this one time.” His voice faltered at the last sentence, and Shiro wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab his hand. “I was with this one family for four and a half years, from when I was thirteen to eighteen. My last few years in the system.” He laughed bitterly. “They were just… the worst. I used to get in trouble with them a lot, because my grades were bad… moving around from school to school kind of jumbled up everything in my head. School didn’t really make sense to me. It still doesn’t.” 

Shiro’s stomach lurched. It made sense now, why Keith put so much into his studies, why he’d panic if things didn’t get done in time. He was the model student, and he was put under fire for it quite often, especially by Lance. And now it made sense. Shiro didn’t allow himself to speak, not until he was completely sure that Keith was finished. 

“So I guess I just didn’t have good experiences with, you know, people, I guess. And then, when I first came over here, there was the language barrier. No one wanted to talk to me, and I was scared to, so I didn’t try. Not until you came along and ruined it all.” Keith grinned, and Shiro didn’t think he’d ever felt as proud as he did in that moment. 

“Well, I’m glad I did.” Shiro leaned back against the frame of Hunk’s bed. “Was it hard to learn English? Because English is _rough._ ”

“God, yeah.” Much to Shiro’s delight, the smile hadn’t slid from Keith’s face. “I wish I had someone to speak Korean to.” 

Shiro tilted his head to the side. “Teach me something in Korean.” 

Keith pursed his lips, thinking for a moment. “Okay, um. This means ‘friend.’ Sa-rang-hae-yo.” 

“That’s an awfully long word for friend,” Shiro teased. He repeated the word to the best of his ability, but there was something about the accent that Keith had that made him weak at the knees. It was a good thing he was already sitting down. 

He didn’t even mind Keith laughing at his butchered pronunciation. “Oh, and then you could say… neon wan-byeok-hae. That means ‘you’re cool.’ So you could say it to me every time you see me.” 

It wasn’t very often that Shiro got to see this playful side of Keith, but he was damn sure that he was deeply, impossibly, in love with this side of him. “I’m just going to say all of it all together, every time I see you,” Shiro beamed. He attempted the pronunciation once again, and he didn’t think he’d ever seen Keith grin so widely. 

“Exactly. You got it.” Keith held his hand out for a high five, and Shiro slapped it. “You’ll be speaking Korean all the time before too long.” 

And truthfully, that was Shiro’s goal. Maybe one day, he’d be able to profess his love for Keith in his native language. That would be easy to daydream about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just so you know, the korean that keith taught him is "i love you" and "you're perfect" because he's a sneaky little brat ;) 
> 
> this'll be the last update that comes this quickly, i'm gonna be moving to posting about twice a week from now on. thank you guys again for all your super super sweet comments, you're all the best ever. :)


	6. Settling

Did Keith feel embarrassed by how much he’d told Shiro? Absolutely. But did he regret it? 

At first, he had. He’d almost wanted to tell Shiro to forget it all, to act like they’d never had the whole conversation. But he felt almost at ease, now that he’d told Shiro a little more about himself. He felt like Shiro really understood him. Being around Shiro had been effortless in the beginning, but now, it was even more so. 

They’d spent a majority of their time together, whether they were studying or preparing for their upcoming interview. Truthfully, Keith had found himself wanting to spend time with Shiro over anyone else. Social interaction was exhausting for him, and normally it was something that he had to build himself up to. But it was quite the opposite when it came to Shiro. Spending time with Shiro was easy, and definitely not something that he ever had to think about or psych himself up for. It was hard not to be selfish and demand Shiro’s attention all the time. 

Keith even felt quite confident about his upcoming finals, despite the fact that all of his studying was done with his ever-distracting husband. It was just the interview that he was terrified about. He and Shiro had talked about it a lot, sure, but Keith didn’t think any amount of talking would prepare him. He was nervous out of his mind. 

He must have been gnawing pretty ferociously at his pen, because it attracted Hunk’s attention. “You okay over there, dude?” he laughed. “You look… mad.” 

Keith looked up from his computer. “Huh?” He hadn’t even noticed that Hunk had entered the room. “Sorry. No, I’m good - just concentrating.” 

Hunk rose from his bed and leaned against the back of Keith’s chair. “You’ve been studying too much. We should do something fun tonight. Y’know, get everyone together to do something _other_ than studying!” 

Keith couldn’t deny that he needed a break. Hell, he needed a break from _life_ right now. But he missed everyone. How could he say no? He shut down the screen of his laptop, turning in his seat to look at his obviously excited roommate. “Good idea, Hunk. I think we could probably all use a break,” he agreed. His mindset was far from studying already. And if anything, a movie night would give him a good chance to get a little closer to Shiro. He had to force the smile from his lips. 

“Sweet! It’s settled! You invite everyone over, I’ll handle the movie and the snacks.” That was one of the things that Keith loved about Hunk; no matter the situation, he was always so happy to see everyone. He was the one who went out of their way to ensure that everyone had a good time. Knowing that Hunk was going to be the one to arrange the night put him at ease. 

And of course, the very first person that Keith invited was Shiro. Normally, he’d send a text message in a group chat, but the selfish part of him wanted to ensure that he’d be the one sitting nearest to Shiro. _Hunk suggested a movie night, wanna come? Wait, I take that back. You don’t have a choice. Come over._ He hoped that Hunk didn’t notice him smiling to himself as he texted Shiro. 

He texted the rest of them, shortly receiving affirmative answers from everyone. Of course, Keith was excited to see all of them. He knew that he hadn’t been spending as much time with everyone else as he should have, and he truly wanted to make up for it. But that didn’t mean that he was going to sacrifice being as close to Shiro as he could while they were all together. 

“Everyone’s coming,” Keith announced to Hunk with a smile. “What should we watch?” 

“I was thinking a scary movie,” Hunk grinned. “I mean, it’s always so funny to see Pidge cling to whoever’s closest to her. I was thinking maybe The Purge?”

Keith snorted. “You’re so mean,” he laughed. “The Purge is always good. Want me to help you grab some snacks?” 

“Yeah, sure!” A knock sounded at the door, startling Keith slightly. Hunk was quick to answer it. “Shiro! Figures you’d be the first one.” 

“Lance is just down the hallway, he’ll be here any second too,” Shiro grinned. And Keith definitely couldn’t ignore the fact that Keith was the first one he looked to. Their gazes met and Keith couldn’t keep from smiling. “Hey, Keith.” 

Shiro singling him out like that made Keith feel fuzzy. “Hey, Shiro.” He suddenly wished that he hadn’t suggested helping Hunk with the snacks. 

“Me and Keith are going to go grab snacks. We’ll be right back - just let all the others in when they come, if we’re not back!” Hunk gestured for Keith to follow him, and it took all of his energy not to pout. By the time they came back, there would be no room to sit next to Shiro. He hoped that he wasn’t right. 

The two headed down to the cafeteria just off the dorm hall, where they were able to get a few pizzas to go around. And sure enough, when they returned… Lance was sitting to one side of Shiro, Allura on the other. Keith wasn’t surprised, at least by Allura. Allura and Shiro were very close friends, seeing as they were the closest in age. But damn Lance _had_ to be in the way. 

He was going to weasel his way in somehow. How, exactly, he wasn’t sure - but he was definitely going to make sure that Lance wasn’t the one sitting next to Shiro. He settled with sitting next to Pidge, which meant that he was going to be the one that she clung to. He wouldn’t mind it so much if he wasn’t equally as scared as she was. 

Hunk settled on the bed between everyone else, box of pizza propped open in his lap. “You guys ready?” he asked. He was answered with a resounding ‘yes’ from everyone but Keith - he wasn’t ready until he was sitting next to Shiro. 

The movie started, and Keith fought back the urge to glance over at Shiro. Luckily, neither Allura or Lance were the clinging type. They didn’t get scared by scary movies, from what Keith had seen before. His phone buzzed, drawing his attention momentarily from the screen. 

Trying to keep it concealed in the pocket of his sweater, Keith glanced down at his phone. It was from Shiro. Keith hadn’t even seen him pull out his phone. _Don’t get too scared, since I’m not over there to protect you. ;) And you gotta stay strong for Pidge!_

All of the heat in Keith’s body rushed to his cheeks. Shiro was such a _tease._ It was like he was inside Keith’s mind. Keith tapped back a quick response. _Don’t worry, I don’t need you to protect me. It’s you I’m worried about. ;) Feel free to come cling to me if you need to._

Keith didn’t even know where this side of him came from. Were they flirting? Or were they just that comfortable with each other that it could be misconstrued as flirting? There was such a blurred line between friendship and dating that Keith didn’t know where they stood. And then there was always the fact that they were technically _married_ which played a part in screwing up the equation. 

A squeak from Pidge drew Keith’s attention back to the real world. A masked figure had popped up on the screen, and a sound slipped from Keith’s lips that sounded similar to Pidge’s. And he couldn’t help but notice that, at the other end of the bed, Lance had wrapped his arms around Shiro’s bicep. Keith’s throat went dry. Lance had _never_ been scared by movies like this before. What was he doing? He hid his face in Shiro’s shoulder, and Keith boiled with immature jealousy. That was supposed to be _him_ doing that. 

Pidge buried her face in Keith’s shoulder, which only worked to scare him more. “God dammit, Pidge!” he yelped. 

“Keith, you are _no_ help! Shiro!” Pidge whined. 

_Bless this sweet scaredy cat,_ Keith thought. Shiro laughed from the other end of the bed. “You should’ve known better than to sit next to Keith. He’s a big baby.” He winked at Keith as he squeezed his way between Keith and Pidge. Keith wasn’t surprised that Shiro was the first one that she called out to. Shiro was easily the dad of the group, and being that to Pidge was so much easier given her age. She was what everyone called a ‘child genius,’ a kid who had studied her way through school four years early. She was younger than everyone, especially Shiro, who was eight years her senior. And then there was the fact that he babied the hell out of her. He wrapped an arm around her scrawny shoulders, and she leaned into him gratefully. 

“You can still cling to me if you want,” Shiro murmured at a volume that only Keith could hear. 

“You wish,” Keith whispered, a grin playing at his lips. 

He could definitely see why Pidge liked having him nearby. He felt safer, though he felt silly for feeling so. It wasn’t as if the murderers on the screen could possibly hurt him, but he knew that if anything _was_ going to hurt him, he’d have Shiro. Despite Shiro’s invitations, he tried his hardest to resist the urge to hold onto Shiro’s arm. Something told him that, even though Shiro had been pretty willing to show Keith his scarred arm, he wouldn’t appreciate it being held onto. 

But Pidge didn’t release her vice-like grip on his bicep. Every now and then, out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw Shiro wince. Luckily, Keith thought, that wasn’t his bad arm. Though, as the movie continued, Keith found himself leaning against Shiro’s shoulder as fatigue set in. He was relaxed; it was nice to have all of his friends together, and most importantly, it was nice to be back with Shiro. 

Keith reached across Allura to take a piece of pizza from Hunk, and the moment it was in his hands, it was out of them again. Shiro had stolen it from him and taken a huge bite before handing it back. Keith elbowed him. “Rude,” he whispered, but he grinned, taking a bit himself. 

_Indirect kiss_ was the very first thing that came to mind. But it wasn’t as if he’d never kissed Shiro before. He thought back to their wedding, to when they kissed in front of the Justice of the Peace. It was still strange to think that they had actually kissed then. And it had been so tender, and it felt so… real. He could’ve sworn that he felt his lips tingle. Why couldn’t they do that again? 

But then he remembered the pictures that they’d have to take. For the interview, they’d have to have picture proof that they’d been together for a long time. How the hell were they going to make up years of a romantic relationship that they’d never even had? Sure, Keith had a picture or two with Shiro, but none of them could be construed as romantic with any stretch of the imagination. They’d have to take more - and they’d have to be kissing in some of them, surely. Keith didn’t mind the thought of kissing Shiro again. 

The thought of kissing Shiro again had distracted him so much that he didn’t even register Shiro taking the crust of his pizza from him. He’d nearly finished the whole thing before Keith turned to him. “I was gonna give it back but you were too slow,” Shiro said, cheeks stuffed with bread. 

Keith plucked the remainder of the crust from Shiro’s hand. He couldn’t bring it in himself to argue. Shiro was just being so damn charming, he could hardly think past the wild beating of his heart. “Sure you were. You could’ve gotten your own piece, you know,” he pointed out before popping the rest of his crust into his mouth. Hunk shushed him, and he shrank back into his spot, but not without feeling incredibly victorious. 

Keith had hardly been able to focus on the movie - Shiro was a massive distraction. As the movie ended, he realized that he didn’t remember a single thing that happened. But that was alright with him. He’d practically kissed Shiro again, and that was enough for him. 

“Are you okay, Pidge?” Shiro laughed as Hunk got up to turn the light on. 

The younger girl puffed out her cheeks. “I’m fine. It just scared me a little.” 

“A little?” Lance teased. “You practically screamed.” 

“Shut up!” Pidge pouted, pulling her knees to her chest. “It was scary!” 

“It was. It creeped me out,” Keith piped in. Pidge stuck her tongue out in Lance’s direction. 

Hunk rose from his seat, stretching out his arms. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay, guys. Sorry to cut it short,” he said, and Keith raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t say he was surprised. Hunk was a man after his own heart - he loved sleep, as did Keith. He was pretty ready to head to bed as well. 

“Good idea, I’m beat,” Pidge agreed with a wide yawn. Murmurs of agreement sounded throughout the group, and the moment everyone stood up, Keith flopped down on his bed, stretching out as much as he could. 

“‘Night, Keith. ‘Night, Hunk!” Shiro waved, and Keith raised an arm in salute. He found himself growing irritated, thinking about Lance’s behavior. Why was Lance all over Shiro? He never had been before… not that Keith had noticed, at least. But it wasn’t like he was jealous… was he? 

Hunk waved everyone off before shutting the door. “Ah, man, what a night,” he sighed contently, laying back on his own bed. “I’m _stuffed._ ”

“Me too,” Keith murmured, staring up at the ceiling. He just wished that he’d gotten a little more time to enjoy the fact that Shiro was there. All of this was a tease; he never got to see Shiro for more than maybe an hour or two, and even then, it was usually with their friends. 

Hunk rolled over on his bed to look at Keith. “Are you and Shiro dating?” he asked suddenly. 

“W-What?” Keith didn’t even think before he squeaked back a response. He wracked his brain, trying to think of any reason that Hunk might think that. Had they done something around their friends that might make it look like they were dating? But also… he kind of liked the thought that it seemed like they were together. “No, why?” 

Hunk shrugged. “I was just wondering. I’ve seen the way you guys look at each other. I just wanted you to know that you guys don’t have to hide anything from us, y’know, if you are. ‘Cause none of us are gonna judge you guys for being together. It’s kinda cute, actually.” 

Keith buried his face in his pillow. He was sure that he was so embarrassed that he’d never want to show his face on this planet ever again. Hunk had a heart of gold, and he felt terrible for keeping such a huge secret from him. After all, Hunk was an understanding person, he always had been. “Shiro and I are fake married so that I can stay in United States after I graduate from school,” he blurted out, hoping that his words were too muffled by the pillow for Hunk to hear. 

But he wasn’t so lucky. Hunk floundered for a moment, obviously completely unsure of what to say. “O-Oh. Man, give a guy a little warning before you drop a bomb on him like that,” he laughed uneasily, rolling back over onto his back. Keith allowed himself a peek. Hunk looked… confused, but not angry. At least, he tried to tell himself that. 

There was another moment of silence before Hunk spoke again. “Damn. That sounds like a lot of work. And Shiro’s cool with all that? You guys aren’t going to get in trouble?” he asked, concern evident in his voice. 

Keith sighed. “I… I don’t know. I mean, Shiro _seems_ okay with it. I feel horrible for dragging him into it. I’m the worst person ever, aren’t I?” 

Hunk laughed, sitting up in bed. “Nah. You hear about people doing that stuff all the time, y’know, in movies and stuff.” It was obvious that he was just making excuses to make Keith feel better, but honestly, it was working. “But it really does seem like you guys are dating. Do you like him?” 

He’d said everything already, what harm would it do to divulge a little more? “...Yeah. I do,” he said quietly. But that only served to remind him that their relationship would probably never be any more than what it was now. A fake marriage that Shiro would probably end up resenting him for, a friendship that was weirdly strained because they had to act like they really, truly were in love with each other. He groaned, shoving his face deeper into the pillow. “I’m stupid.” 

“A little,” Hunk teased, and came over to sit on the edge of Keith’s bed. He patted his friend’s back encouragingly. “But if it makes you feel any better, it totally looks like Shiro likes you, too. I mean, not that I’m an expert in that field, but he looks at you just as much as you look at him.” He paused. “So, uh, what kind of stuff do you guys have to do for all this… fake marriage stuff?” 

God, did that make him feel better. His heart felt like it might fly right out of his throat. What if Shiro really did like him back? But Keith couldn’t help but feel that Shiro was like that with everyone. He was such a kind person, it was easy to think that he loved someone. It was just wishful thinking, to think that Shiro felt the same for him. “We have to, uh… do this interview thing, where they interview both of us separately and ask us how we met, I guess how we… fell in love, all that stuff, and they wanna see pictures--” 

He stopped. “Shit. Pictures.” 

Hunk raised his eyebrows. “You mean, like… pictures that show that you’ve been together for a while, stuff like that? Wedding pictures?” 

“Yeah.” Keith bit his lip. He’d completely forgotten about the pictures. But maybe, now that Hunk knew…. “Would you be able to help us with that? Take some, like, ‘candid’ pictures of us together on dates and all that?” 

Hunk grinned. “Sure! That would be fun! Plus, it’s an excuse to go out all over the place and do stuff. We could take pictures of you guys everywhere - out eating, maybe at a park, or-- Ooh! We could go to an amusement park!” He truly seemed more excited about this than Keith was. “We could bring everyone. Then it’d look more legit, because you’ve got friends around you.” 

Keith almost felt like crying. Why was everyone around him being so supportive? He truly didn’t feel deserving of this. “I think that’s a good idea,” he said quietly. “Thank you, Hunk, really.” 

“No problem,” Hunk grinned. “You know I got your back. We’ll go out tomorrow, since it’s Saturday. We’ll have plenty of time to hit all kinds’a places. Just bring lots of changes of clothes, so you’re not wearing the same thing in all of ‘em.” 

“Right.” 

\---

And so the next day, the three of them met at a park near campus. Shiro had freaked out upon finding out that Keith had told Hunk - but upon truly thinking about Hunk’s character, he calmed down. It was easy to trust him. But Shiro was obviously nervous. 

When Keith arrived, Hunk was holding a camera. “Hey, newlyweds!” he grinned, waving at them. 

Keith’s eyes widened. “Ssh! Dummy, no one else knows!” he hissed, and Hunk clamped his hands over his mouth. 

“Oh, yeah-- Sorry!” 

But Shiro laughed. “Glad _someone_ approves of our relationship,” he grinned. “So, what’s the plan for today?” 

Hunk hummed in thought. “I guess… you guys could take some pictures? And I could take some pictures of you guys, and then we could go a few different places?” 

Keith shrugged. “Sounds good to me,” he said, trying to sound aloof. But _God,_ was he nervous. They were going to have to take pictures that made it look like they were dating. Kissing pictures. Romantic pictures. Pictures with cheeks pressed against cheeks, holding hands, laughing together… basically a dream come true. “I brought extra clothes too.” 

“Me too!” Shiro piped in, brandishing a backpack. 

Hunk tossed the camera in Shiro’s direction. “Take a few pictures of you guys, because I bet they’ll want to see that too.” 

Shiro shot Hunk a thumbs up. “Got it, boss.” Keith was grateful for Hunk’s disappearing to entertain himself. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do this with Hunk watching. 

Before Keith could blink again, Shiro had laid down in the grass. “C’mere,” he said, tugging on the leg of Keith’s jeans. Keith laughed, joining him in the grass. He was completely sure that he’d died and gone to heaven. He laid as close to Shiro as he could manage, and Shiro stretched his arms out, aiming the camera towards them. 

“Okay, you can’t judge me if this doesn’t come out right,” Shiro laughed. He turned his head and, catching Keith completely off guard, planted a kiss on his cheek. The grin on Keith’s face in the picture was completely genuine. 

“Wow, we look pretty convincing,” Keith commented. 

Shiro nodded in agreement. “I think so too.” His gaze lingered on Keith for a moment; their eyes locked, and Keith couldn’t bring himself to pull away. He took the moment to admire the man before him. Shiro was… beautiful, in a way that Keith had never noticed in anyone before. His eyes were warm, and though he looked perpetually tired, the look was charming. And his lips looked soft. 

Keith didn’t stop himself from finding out. 

He pulled the camera from Shiro’s hands, holding it at an angle and snapped a picture, just as he pressed his lips to Shiro’s. Shiro rested his hand on Keith’s cheek, a motion that Keith couldn’t decide was for the sake of the picture or just because he wanted to. Keith wanted to think it was the latter. He didn’t let himself pull away from the kiss; he let it last. His lips lingered on Shiro’s for a few seconds before he pulled away. He snapped a picture the second they pulled away, their lips still hovering over each other’s. He didn’t care if the committee would want to see all of these or not - Keith wanted them forever. 

“Those should be, uh, pretty convincing, too,” Shiro murmured against Keith’s lips. 

Keith was still reeling from the burst of confidence that pushed him to kiss Shiro. He couldn’t believe he’d had the guts, but he didn’t regret it, not for a second. He wanted to remember how his lips felt after kissing Shiro forever. “I think so, too,” he whispered, chuckling softly. 

They snapped a few more before letting Hunk take over. The candid pictures were more goofy, pictures of them on swings, climbing the monkey bars, just walking around in general and shooting silly faces at the camera. They were perfect. 

Too good to be real. 

\-- 

Keith missed Shiro already. They’d been together all day; the day had gone by so quickly though. He couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. It had been so quick, yet… he’d felt it in every fiber of his body. His heart was still racing. All he wanted in life was to do it again. 

He stared blankly at his computer screen. The words stared back at him, but he couldn’t make any sense of them. He was tired, this was the very last thing that he wanted to think about. He didn’t want to think about the fact that he was now roping Shiro into _two years_ of supporting him financially. He had himself convinced that Shiro wasn’t happy about it, but refused to tell him so. 

Keith buried his face in his hands, rubbing them over his face. The more he felt himself falling for Shiro, the guiltier he felt. He wished that he’d pulled anyone else into this - anyone but Shiro. No one deserved it less than him. _God dammit,_ he muttered under his breath. 

Keith’s phone lit up, buzzing on his desk. The text was from Shiro. _You better not still be awake. Get some sleep. See you in the morning! :)_ As if he knew. Keith pulled his phone to his chest, resting his head on his desk. Tears bubbled behind his eyelids, and he squeezed his eyes shut against them. He felt more undeserving of this than he’d ever felt of anything. 

But his fatigue overtook any other feeling that was plaguing him. His eyes hadn’t been closed more than a few seconds before he fell asleep at his desk, phone still clutched tightly to him. 

What he hadn’t heard was Lance coming into the room. He’d snuck in, as not to disturb the probably sleeping Keith. He’d come to visit Hunk, as he normally did on a Saturday night. 

He knew that Lance was a nosy person - but what he hadn’t prepared for was the other student looking over his shoulder at his computer, which betrayed to Lance all of the information that had been weighing so heavily on Keith’s mind about his green card.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how late this update was, but I sure hope it's worth it. ;)


	7. The First Fight pt. 1

Keith was slowly grasping onto consciousness as Lance and Hunk argued amongst themselves. 

“Are you serious? I mean _obviously_ he’s doing this with someone! Why else would he be googling it?” Lance demanded. “This is seriously fucked up!” 

Hunk tried his hardest to reason with his irate friend, but it wasn’t doing him much good. “Look, we can’t jump to conclusions! Who knows why he would be looking up this stuff? Maybe it’s just for fun? I don’t know, Lance, but cut him some slack!” 

Keith groaned as he slowly came to. Had he really fallen asleep at his desk? He sat up with a whine as he stretched out his sore arms. He couldn’t have possibly fallen asleep in a worse position. 

He didn’t hear Hunk’s whispered “Don’t.” before Lance exploded. 

“Keith, what the fuck, man?” he all but yelled, ignoring Hunk’s request to stay quiet. “What _is_ this? Are you, like, marrying someone to get your green card or something? That’s some rom com bullshit - you can’t expect that to happen in real life!” 

Keith was still reeling as he struggled to wake up fully. What was going on? “Wait, what?” 

“That stuff you were looking up on the computer!” Lance pointed an accusatory finger towards Keith’s screen, which he turned his bleary eyes towards. 

_Shit._ He floundered, trying to find the best words to explain himself. But how could he? “I--” 

“Dude. Please just tell me you’re not doing this,” Lance sighed. “Seriously, you could get into some real trouble.” 

Keith narrowed his eyes. “What I do is my business, not yours, Lance,” he seethed. “Drop it.” 

But Lance was far from the point of listening to him. “Drop it? I’m trying to keep you _safe,_ idiot!” He huffed, raking his fingers through his short hair. “So you really are doing this? Who did you drag into this?” 

The accusatory tone in Lance’s voice made Keith’s heart ache. He really had dragged Shiro into this - he didn’t need Lance to remind him of that. But he didn’t owe Lance any explanation. He didn’t answer. 

But Lance’s eyes widened in realization. “It’s Shiro! You guys have been so much closer, sneaking around doing shit that you won’t tell anyone about….” His lips parted. “Of all the people to drag into this, you picked _Shiro?_ ” 

Keith slammed his hand down on the desk, all traces of fatigue drained from his body. He was practically shaking with anger. “I picked Shiro because he’s reliable. I didn’t want to do this, Lance, but this was my only option. And Shiro… was willing to help me.” His voice trailed off, and he found himself unable to keep up his anger. He was pissed that Lance had the gall to tell Keith off about this, but bringing Shiro into the equation… Lance was pressing all the right buttons to make Keith feel like shit. 

“Guys, would you stop? Seriously, Lance, it’s none of your business, and you guys don’t need to be arguing,” Hunk piped in, but his words fell upon deaf ears. 

“Don’t you think Shiro has enough on his plate? He’s trying to get through his master’s degree, and that in itself is stressful enough without having to support an illegitimate husband!” Lance accused, and Keith felt like he had been slapped in the face. 

An illegitimate husband. That really was all Keith was. He was a parasite, feeding off Shiro’s stability to create his own. The colour drained from his face, but Lance wasn’t finished. 

“You’re taking this crush too far, Keith.” Lance’s voice dropped to a level tone that held so much anger that Keith wouldn’t be surprised if Lance hit him. “It’s obvious how much you like him. And if this is some sick way of making him stay with you, it’s not going to work. He’s going to hate you after all this. You guys are going to be stuck together, and Shiro’s going to want to be his own person. But you won’t let him. You don’t love him - you’re in love with the idea of him being your husband. You don’t know shit about Shiro.” 

Keith recoiled. There was no need for Lance to remind him of all this - he’d said all those things to himself repeatedly since all of this began. Even Hunk caught onto the viciousness of Lance’s words. “Lance, you should probably leave. I think you need to chill out a little.”

Keith couldn’t move. He was paralyzed by the crushing guilt that took over every fiber of his body. The outburst was so out of character for Lance that Keith didn’t know how to react. They’d always been at each other’s throats, that was just how their friendship was. But he’d never expected anything like this. He’d never expected Lance to be so vicious. He honestly didn’t think that Lance had it in him. But he’d proved Keith wrong. His chest felt tight, and his vision fogged with tears. Lance was right, completely right - so right that Keith couldn’t find it in him to be angry. This was something that Keith had to hear, whether he wanted to or not. And he really, _really_ hadn’t wanted to. His hands balled into fists at his sides, and he willed himself not to cry. He didn’t deserve to be upset over this. 

“I’m not going to just stand by and let this happen!” Lance protested.  
Keith finally found his voice. “It’s not up to you, Lance! This has nothing to do with you. Shiro and I are adults, we can do what we want!”

Lance’s next move completely blindsided Keith. His fist connected with Keith’s jaw, sending him to the floor. He was seeing stars as his body connected with the carpet. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. “What the fuck?!” Keith yelled. 

Hunk was quick to step in. “Hey! Both of you, cut it out, right now!” It was rare that Hunk raised his voice at all, so both Keith and Lance froze completely. Keith’s jaw was throbbing, and Lance was clutching his hand to his chest. Hunk spun to face Lance, pointing a finger mere inches from his tanned face. “Look, just because you have a crush on Shiro doesn’t mean you can be a total asshole to Keith. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s not being mean to Shiro, and there was _no_ reason for you to punch him.”

“W-What crush? What are you talking about?” Lance spluttered, and Keith’s eyes widened. He had a crush on Shiro? That more than explained his outburst, but it didn’t do anything to comfort Keith at all. All he could focus on at the moment was the throbbing pain spreading throughout the lower half of his face. 

Hunk’s eyes widened, realizing that he probably said a little more than he should have. “I-I just… I don’t think it’s fair! You’re jealous, and I know all of this seems weird but you don’t need to make Keith feel like crap about all this!” He folded his arms across his chest. “You should leave, Lance. Cool down a little. You definitely need it.” His voice lowered as he glared at Lance. 

“Whatever.” Lance slammed the door behind him, and Keith could hardly gather himself. This was all too much to process. The first feeling was overwhelming jealousy - Lance had a crush on Shiro? That made so much sense as to why he’d been so protective, and why he’d clung to Shiro so tightly during their movie the night before. But _God,_ did it piss him off. 

Hunk interrupted his thoughts. “Hey, you okay, man?” he asked, eyes wide with concern. “Your jaw looks… kinda swollen.” 

It definitely felt it, too. Lance had a hell of a punch. Keith drew his hand to it and touched it gingerly, but even that was enough to make the pain flare back up. “I’m good. Don’t worry.” He didn’t feel like talking about this, no matter how grateful he was for Hunk’s concern. He just wanted to be left alone. 

And Hunk caught on. “I’m gonna go check on Lance.” He put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Sorry about all that. I didn’t even think about the fact that Lance would see… want me to send Shiro over?”

Keith was quick to shake his head. “No, no, I don’t… wanna see Shiro right now,” he muttered. “I’ll be okay. I’m just gonna head to bed.” 

“Okay.” Hunk offered him a sad smile before leaving the room, thus leaving Keith alone with his thoughts. 

It didn’t take him more than a few seconds of isolation to realize that he really didn’t want to be awake with the thoughts he was having. His jaw was trembling with unshed tears, which only served to make the pain in his jaw worse. 

He looked back over the text message that Shiro had sent him, but it only managed to make the urge to cry even stronger. Shiro was such a good person - painfully good. So good it made Keith angry. If only Shiro had a single bad bone in his body, maybe he wouldn’t feel so guilty about all of this. 

Keith laid down carefully, being careful not to put any pressure on his jaw. The second his head hit the pillow, the tears came. He burst into sobs that wracked his entire body, and he tried to muffle them in his pillow, but that only managed to hurt his jaw. His tears were a combination of frustration and just plain anger. He was angry that Lance had the nerve to place judgement on his and Shiro’s situation, and he was even angrier with himself for not truly handling it. If Hunk hadn’t been there, he didn’t know what would’ve happened. 

He clutched his pillow with all of his might, letting himself cry. It helped to alleviate some of the heaviness that had long since settled on his chest, but a lot of it still lingered. He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, silently willing himself to stop crying. He was just glad that no one was in the room with him. 

Once his tears were finally reduced to pitiful-sounding hiccups, Keith rolled over to try and sleep. His eyes stung, and he forced himself to relax. 

And for the second night in a row, Keith dreamed of Shiro. 

\---

The next day greeted him with a knock at the door. Keith groaned, rolling over to glance at his phone. He’d slept in - it was already noon. And he’d definitely needed it, but he didn’t feel any better for it. The pain in his jaw was radiating up the side of his head, pounding at his temples. His entire head ached. He could definitely feel the swelling. And on top of that, his eyes stung fiercely from all of the crying the night before. 

But still, he forced himself out of bed to answer the door. A bright-eyed Shiro greeted him. “Hey, Keith. Ready to--” He paused. “Are you okay? You look… horrible. Is your jaw bruised?” 

Judging by Shiro’s reaction, he could only assume that it didn’t look too good. But he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to spend a lot of time around Shiro today. He’d completely forgotten about their plans to go over information about the interview. But he couldn’t do it. He didn’t have it in him, not today. “Sorry, Shiro, I can’t today. I’m gonna go lay back down.” He could hardly bring himself to look at Shiro. Damn that sweet, permanently smiling face. He had to force himself to shut the door. 

But Shiro shoved his hand in just before the door closed. “Keith, what’s going on?” The concern was evident in his voice, which only made Keith even less willing to see him. 

“I said no, Shiro! Just leave me alone! I want to be alone today, _please._ ” His voice softened with the last word, and he winced internally as his voice cracked. 

He couldn’t bring himself to fight Shiro as he forced the door open. Shiro’s gaze softened. “Hey. What’s wrong?” he murmured, shutting the door behind him. “Did something happen last night? I know Hunk was in my room--” 

“Stop. Seriously, I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to do this today, okay? I just want to relax, and I want you to leave me alone.” It hurt him to the core to speak like this to Shiro, but right now, for his own sanity, he needed distance. The guilt was practically eating him alive, and seeing Shiro so concerned for him was only making it worse. 

Shiro blinked. Keith had never spoken to him like that, so he couldn’t say he was surprised by Shiro’s reaction. “Look, Keith, if something happened last night, you have to tell me. We’re in this together, remember? Did someone find out, or--”

Something in Keith snapped. “Lance knows. Lance found out because I fell asleep at my computer while I was looking up stuff, and he freaked out at me. He blew up and told me how irresponsible I was and how I was taking all of this too far, that I was trapping you in something that you want nothing to do with and I’m being selfish and he was _right_ and I feel like the worst human being in the world. Is that what you wanted to know, Shiro? Because that’s what happened. And I feel so guilty about it because I love you so much and I want your happiness but you’re not going to get it with me because I’m just trapping you in all of this bullshit and I’m so, so sorry.” Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, despite his best efforts to keep them contained. 

Shiro chewed his lower lip. “Keith… I-I’m sorry, but… were you just speaking Korean?” 

Keith’s eyes widened. _God dammit._ When his emotions got the better of him, he tended to slip into his mother tongue - only because he felt that he could explain himself better. But obviously, he hadn’t explained himself at all. “Shit,” he muttered, still not looking at Shiro. He focused intently this time on the words that passed his lips. “Lance found out… and he was telling me how irresponsible I was for doing this to you.” He sighed. “We got in a fight. It was stupid. But I feel bad, and I just… I guess I want it to be easier for when this is all over. It’d be awkward between us, I think.” 

Shiro furrowed his brows. “Keith… why would you think that? How would it be awkward?” He took a timid step closer to Keith, and Keith made no effort to pull away. “Why are you even thinking about when this is all over, anyway? You can’t be so negative about all this. You’re only making it harder.” 

“I’m just being realistic!” Keith shot back. “Eventually, all of this is going to be over. You and me are going to get a ‘divorce,’ and people are going to look at us like ‘oh, wow, these two were only married for two years and they’re already getting divorced?’ and we have to go through all that mess, not to mention the fact that you’re stuck with me for _two years!_ ” 

Shiro interrupted him. “I’m a grown man. I can make my own decisions. Don’t you think I thought about this before agreeing to you?” His voice was raised, but only slightly - it was still enough to make Keith flinch. “I knew what I was going into with this, and I still know what I’m going into for the next few years. I know what I’m doing. Have a little faith in me. Please.” 

Even when he was mad, Shiro had a way of stealing Keith’s heart. Keith swallowed thickly, casting his gaze to the floor. “...I’m sorry, Shiro. I guess I’ve just felt so guilty about this whole thing, I felt like you were just being nice by saying yes.” 

Shiro laughed, and wrapped his arms around Keith. Keith didn’t fight him. “There’s a limit to kindness. I don’t think I know anyone who would agree to marrying someone ‘just to be nice,’” he teased, and Keith rested his forehead against Shiro’s shoulder. He already felt a million times lighter. “Don’t feel guilty, okay? I’m just as in this as you are.” 

Hearing Shiro say that was the biggest relief he’d ever felt. He felt like crying all over again, but this time, with relief. He looked up at Shiro with a grin that he was sure was quite wonky with the swelling of his jaw. “You’re too nice for your own good, you know that?” 

Shiro chuckled, brushing a thumb over Keith’s jaw gingerly. “Honestly? There isn’t much that I wouldn’t do for you, so I’m not so sure it’s me being nice.” 

Keith leaned in towards Shiro, a tiny smile playing at his lips. Was this it? Were they going to kiss? His heart was going a thousand miles a minute. Everything felt right for a kiss - Shiro was leaning into him, and Keith was leaning back. 

But the sudden ring of Keith’s phone startled him, and he ended up smacking his face into Shiro’s. Keith howled in pain, clutching his jaw in both hands. “Ow, ow, ow,” he whined, and Shiro was nearly dying of laughter. 

“Oh my god, are you okay?” he laughed, pulling Keith in closer to him and wrapping his arms around him protectively. But Keith scrambled for his phone as it buzzed in his pocket. 

His eyes widened. “It’s the USCIS -- answer it for me!” he managed, wincing against the pain in his jaw. He wasn’t so much annoyed at the pain in his jaw as he was that his damn phone had ruined their kiss. They had been going to kiss… right? He was close to convincing himself that he’d read the signals wrong. 

But the moment Shiro started talking, Keith focused his attention on him. “You want to schedule the interview?” Shiro gasped, and Keith clapped a hand over his mouth. 

“The 17th… two weeks from today, got it,” Shiro said, tapping out the note in his phone. “Thank you so much, we’ll be there.” 

“Holy shit, Shiro -- two weeks?” Keith was suddenly flooded by the feeling of just how unprepared they really were. They hadn’t had anywhere near enough time to prepare, and two weeks didn’t feel like enough. He exhaled through his mouth. “The 17th… guess we better be ready.” 

Shiro offered Keith a bright grin. “I really think we will be.” 

At least one of them were confident - because Keith most definitely wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finally have the end of this fanfic planned out and let me tell you, it's gonna be a sad day for me when it ends.   
> there's about 5 chapters left! thank you guys for sticking by me and enjoying the fic and leaving your comments! you make it all worthwhile. <3


	8. The First Fight pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a little more of a filler chapter, to get ready for the BIG chapter which is coming up next. ;) i hope you guys are ready because my heart is NOT

Keith wasn’t so sure how he felt about an outing involving everyone, because that meant Lance would be there. 

Hunk had suggested the idea, of course - and Keith knew that he meant well, but he honestly didn’t feel up to it. The bruise on his jaw had faded to an ugly yellow-green color, and only so much makeup could cover it up. If it wasn’t for the fact that Shiro was going and it was an excellent opportunity for pictures, he would’ve opted out. 

And so he prepared himself. He knew that he was going to be filled with rage the moment he saw Lance. But he had to hold it in - he wanted more than anything to spend time with Allura, Pidge, and Hunk. It was for them, he reminded himself. Plus, he needed some time to wind down - the interview was _tomorrow._ His nerves were completely shot, and he knew that Shiro’s were, too. Hopefully, this would help them to relax, even if the interview was the only thing on their minds. 

They met at a local amusement park - it was a small place that could hardly be called an amusement park, but it was the best that they had. Keith was going to make damn sure that he made the most of it, and he was going to get the cutest pictures he possibly could of he and Shiro. 

Keith hadn’t stopped thinking about Shiro since the last night Shiro came over. They’d been pretty close to kissing, he thought - right? The internal battle hadn’t ceased in the nearly two weeks since it had happened. He was going to try his hardest to forget about it today, no matter how hard that would definitely be. 

The entire group finally congregated at the entrance of the park, Lance being the last one to arrive. Keith tried to force himself not to shoot him the evilest glare he could manage. Everyone else seemed to be in high spirits. Keith reminded himself that he needed to be the same. 

Once cheerful hellos and hugs were exchanged, the group headed into the park. Keith hung by Shiro as much as he possibly could, trying to keep his distance from Lance to the best of his ability. Shiro shot him a bright grin, and Keith mirrored it. He didn’t feel quite so nervous, being next to Shiro. But he was admittedly a little jumpy, feeling fairly on edge when Lance moved closer to them. 

Allura was leading the group, practically glowing with excitement. She’d discovered a selfie stick, which she was using to document basically every second of their trip around the park. “Guys, make a funny face!” she said, sticking her tongue out at the camera. This was the perfect opportunity for a couple picture, Keith thought. He snaked an arm around Shiro’s waist, poking up two fingers and putting them at the back of Shiro’s head. The gesture brought a laugh from Shiro, and his eyes twinkled as the shutter went off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shiro turn his head to look at him, and smile. 

“So what first?” Pidge asked. She was walking next to Allura, and had taken over holding the selfie stick. She seemed just as enamored with it as Allura was. 

“Obviously a rollercoaster!” A pang of irritation shot through Keith as he heard Lance speak up for the first time today. His jaw throbbed almost in response. It was still bothering him quite a lot, and had rendered him unable to eat without a lot of pain. And he didn’t like pain. “Shiro, you’re my roller coaster partner.” He fell into step beside Shiro. 

Shiro laughed. “Sounds good to me,” he said, filling Keith with more bitterness than he knew what to do with. He was annoyed that Shiro was being nice to Lance after everything that had happened, but he supposed it wasn’t a good idea to argue in front of everyone, no matter how badly Keith wanted to see Shiro really lay into Lance. 

Pidge rounded Allura to walk next to Keith, still holding the selfie stick. “What do you wanna go on, Keith?” she chirped. It was impossible not to adore Pidge. 

He shrugged. “Maybe the Ferris Wheel?” 

“How boring.” But her tone was a teasing one. She looped her arm around Keith’s, shooting the camera a toothy grin as she snapped a picture. Allura hounded her to return the selfie stick, creating a pouty Pidge. 

Lance and Shiro were chatting amongst themselves as they headed for the roller coaster, and Keith fell into step beside them. “Shiro, take a picture with me!” Keith interjected, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lance glare at him. Sure, it was petty - but he was irritated with Lance. 

Keith held his phone out, and Shiro smiled that beautiful, bright smile that always managed to melt Keith’s heart. He rested the side of his head against Shiro’s cheek, smiling serenely as he took the picture. 

Lance was quick to butt in as soon as he could. “Keith, who are you gonna sit with on the roller coaster?” he asked, standing as close to Shiro as he possibly could as if to emphasize that he wasn’t an option. 

Keith bit back the desire to just punch him. “You can sit with me, Keith!” Hunk said, throwing his arm around Keith’s shoulders. No matter how grateful he was for Hunk, he wasn’t quite Shiro. 

\----

The day played out like that for quite a while. Keith would try to do something with Shiro and Lance would butt in, trying to steal Shiro away from him. And then, Keith would get his petty revenge and steal Shiro away. 

But, the good news was, the Ferris Wheel was to be their next stop. The sun was starting to set, and Keith had every intention of making sure that Shiro was his partner for the Ferris Wheel. He wouldn’t accept anyone else. 

The group waited in line for the Ferris Wheel, the girls’ and Hunk’s arms full of food. Allura was a self-confessed cotton candy addict, and they still had bags of the fluffy sweet clutched in their arms. Pidge was still digging into it. Keith didn’t know how such a tiny body had room for it all. He reached over to pluck some from Pidge’s bag when Allura spoke up. 

“Shiro, wanna sit with me for the Ferris Wheel?” she asked. “Lance and Keith have been hogging you all day!” She winked at the boys, and Keith knew that he couldn’t argue. No one else had gotten a chance to even get a word into Shiro, and he knew that he couldn’t keep denying his friends of Shiro’s company. 

But Shiro shot Keith an apologetic look. “Yeah, sure,” he agreed, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. Shiro and Allura had always been close, seeing as they were the closest in age. 

Pidge had already claimed Hunk, and it took a moment for Keith to realize that that meant he was stuck with Lance. _Shit,_ he thought. Lance was the very last person that he wanted to be stuck with today. But it was for one ride - he could ignore Lance for that long, right? 

That was what he tried to tell himself, at least, but he knew that wouldn’t happen. And he was right. The moment the attendant secured the metal bar across their laps, Keith exploded. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage?” 

Lance snorted just as the ride started up. “I’m just trying to get some time with Shiro, because you think you’re fucking entitled to every second of his time!” he shot back, arms folded over his chest. “He’s not all yours just because you’ve trapped him in some fake marriage bullshit.” 

Keith found himself much calmer than he was last time he and Lance got into it, but he maintained a white-knuckled grip on the metal bar across his lap. “I’m trying to get pictures with him, which I need for our interview tomorrow! We need proof that we’ve been together! And every chance you get, you butt in!” 

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so you need more fake proof that your fake relationship _isn’t_ fake? God, Keith. I just… this is ridiculous. Would it kill you to not make everything about all this fake marriage thing? We’re just trying to have some fun out here with our friends and that’s all you’re worried about!” 

But now, Keith was getting angry. He scoffed. “Oh, right. I should just forget about it. Because if I don’t put enough time and thought into this, nothing bad’s going to happen! Nothing at all! Except for the fact that I’ll get deported and Shiro will get put in fucking jail!” 

It was obvious that Lance didn’t care. At least, that was what Keith saw. “Whatever, Keith. I’m just sick of this. You guys are being stupid with this, and you’re going to get caught. And then you’re both… fucked.” His voice dropped at the last word. “I’m worried about you guys. God, _especially_ Shiro!” 

For a split second, Keith almost wanted to forgive Lance. Almost. But he was good at opening his mouth and sticking his foot in it. “Just shut up, Lance. Please. Shut up,” he murmured, voice devoid of all the anger that it had once held. If this was what was going to happen every time he was alone with Lance, he was going to do his very best to keep this from happening. 

Keith scrambled from his seat the moment the Ferris Wheel came to a halt. He couldn’t get away from Lance fast enough. But he wasn’t expecting what greeted them once they set foot on solid ground again. 

“What is the deal with you two?” Shiro yelled, and Keith’s eyes widened. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Shiro angry before. His heart jumped into his throat - how much had he heard? “All you’ve been doing all day is arguing! We’re trying to have fun today, and neither of you have stopped for even a minute!” 

“Shiro--” Lance began, but Shiro was quick to interrupt. 

“Shut up. I am getting so tired of both of you. It’s been awkward for the rest of us, because you don’t know how to stop,” Shiro spat. 

Allura took a step forward. “Shiro, come over this way,” she whispered, ushering him out of the way of other customers as they tried to take their steps up to the ride. Keith felt incredibly guilty. He hadn’t thought much about Shiro all day, aside from the fact that he didn’t want Lance near him. And he’d never expected in a million years for Shiro to explode like this. 

The minute they were out of earshot of the mass of people near the Ferris Wheel, Shiro started up again. “Both of you are being so selfish! All we could hear when we were on the Ferris Wheel was you two arguing!” 

“The second we got on the damn ride, Keith started on me!” Lance yelled, an accusatory finger pointed in Keith’s direction. 

Keith opened his mouth to protest, but Shiro held his hand up to stop his words in their tracks. “I don’t care who started it. Both of you did it. You’re as bad as each other.” His voice held more disappointment than anger, and that felt so much worse, Keith thought. He wilted under Shiro’s harsh gaze. Shiro had never been angry at him before, and it was probably the worst feeling in the world. 

But he turned on Lance. “And you -- punching Keith? You had no right--” 

“Will all _three_ of you shut up?” Allura cut in, fists balled at her sides. Everyone looked surprised to see her yell, and in a way, she was almost scarier than Shiro. “All three of you are involved in something that none of us know about, and you’ve all been weird about it! You’re being all secretive, argumentative -- we’re tired of it! We were supposed to have fun today, guys! Finals are really soon! But today wasn’t relaxing. At all.” 

Guilt pooled in Keith’s chest. He felt terrible. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that all of this was a secret from everyone but Pidge and Allura. He bit his lower lip. 

Lance spoke up, but his voice was soft. “I… I like Shiro. And I saw Keith as competition, and I freaked out. I got jealous, I guess, and I got stupid.” He turned to Shiro, and Keith’s heart was beating wildly in his chest. “I just wanted your attention.” 

Keith didn’t want to know what Shiro was going to say. But yet, desperately, he clung to every word of Shiro’s response. “Lance…,” Shiro murmured. A small gasp could be heard from Hunk. “I’m sorry, I just--”

“You don’t have to say anything in front of everyone. We’ve made today weird enough already,” Lance grinned. But the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Maybe we should all… head home, try this again next weekend, when things won’t be so… weird.” 

“I think that’s a good idea,” Pidge piped in. The discomfort was painfully obvious on her face. Keith grimaced - this was more embarrassing than he’d ever thought it would be. “I’m gonna go ahead and go.” 

“I’ll walk with you,” Hunk was quick to say, hurrying to catch up with Pidge as she skulked away. 

Allura’s eyes were still narrowed as she looked over the other three. “See you guys next weekend.” She didn’t offer anything else as she walked off as well. 

The remaining three men exchanged glances as they were left alone. “...Shit, we messed up,” Keith said quietly. Those few words didn’t seem to do the situation justice. Nothing felt right anymore. Had Keith seen all of this coming, maybe he would’ve been content to just go back to Korea. Maybe that would’ve been the right thing to do. 

Shiro rubbed his face with both hands. “This whole thing is… well and truly messed up.” He chewed his lower lip. “I’m gonna head home.” He glanced over at Keith. “I’ll see you for the interview tomorrow, okay? Get lots of rest.” He didn’t give Keith a chance to say anything before walking off. 

Keith tipped his head back, letting out a groan of exasperation. Completely forgetting the fact that Lance was still there, he sat down on the concrete, crossing his legs. He couldn’t bring himself to go home just yet. 

Lance joined him on the ground. It took him a while to speak up. “...I’m sorry about all this shit today. I was being stupid. I wasn’t thinking right,” he said, his voice small. 

Keith glanced over at him. No matter how angry he was at Lance, he couldn’t find it in himself to completely disregard his apology. “I’ve been freaking out about this whole thing,” he finally admitted, “...And I guess I’ve been pretty stupid. About Shiro, and… everything.” 

Lance leaned into Keith, their shoulders now touching. “I don’t blame you. All this shit seems really complicated,” he sighed. “I don’t know how you do it.” 

Keith found himself smiling. “That’s the trick - I don’t. Shiro does it all. He’s the rock in all this. I would’ve given up by now if it wasn’t for him.” He sighed. “I got me and Shiro both in way over our heads. I never expected all this.” 

“Did you ever expect to be sitting in the middle of an amusement park, on the ground, complaining to me about your fake husband?” Lance grinned, and Keith laughed, smacking Lance’s leg. 

“I sure didn’t.” Keith laughed. But he felt guilty, knowing just how much Lance liked Shiro as well. Keith had never planned on falling for Shiro - and he’d definitely never intended for Lance to get hurt along the way. “I’m just… sorry that you got involved.” 

“Ah, it’s my fault anyway,” Lance shrugged. “Or-- maybe I should blame Shiro, for being the big, loveable asshole that he is. You can’t _not_ fall in love with him.” 

Keith smiled fondly. “You got that right.” He glanced over at Lance. “I didn’t want you to get hurt, Lance.” 

Lance chuckled. “Hey, you’re the one that got hurt. I socked ya pretty hard, remember?” he grinned. “Don’t worry about me. Just ‘cause you’re married to him doesn’t mean I don’t have a chance.” 

“It kinda does,” Keith joked. But it had never been his intention to keep Shiro from Lance. Truly, all he ever wished for was Shiro’s happiness, even if it involved Lance, not Keith. “I don’t even know how long all this will last, you know? Even if Shiro and I end up getting divorced once this is all set in stone… you never know. I don’t know how he feels about me, or you, or… anyone. Maybe someone’ll come out of the left field and just steal him from both of us.” 

“Well, if that happens, you and me’ll team up and kick their ass,” Lance grinned. He wrapped an arm around Keith’s small frame. “Whatever happens, happens, dude. But you guys be careful, okay? Don’t let ‘em catch you. Convince ‘em that you’re the most grossly in love couple in the entire world.” 

Keith laughed, head coming to rest against Lance’s. “I’ll be plenty good at that. It’s just Shiro that I have to worry about.” 

“I don’t think you have to worry about Shiro at all,” Lance said quietly. “I think he’ll be just as convincing as you… if not more.” 

Keith raised his eyebrows. He tried not to read too much into Lance’s comment… but did Lance know something Keith didn’t? “You think?” 

“Trust me, I know.”


	9. The Interview

Keith hadn’t slept for a second all night. He’d been stressed out of his mind, conjuring up in his mind all kinds of possible scenarios. He had no idea what he was going into today. He’d prepared as much as humanly possible - he and Shiro had gone over their story so many times that it was practically burned into his mind. 

But that did nothing to make him less nervous. He exhaled lowly through his mouth, flipping through the photo album he'd thrown together for the interview. “Shiro & Keith’s Wedding 2016” was emblazoned across the front. It was surreal, looking through the book. It looked real, he thought - they were a damn convincing fake married couple. 

Keith grabbed the book and tucked it under his arm. He would have to leave now; the last thing he needed was to be late. He just hoped that Shiro wouldn't be. He knew that Shiro had a final exam this morning. 

But he was worried. They hadn't left each other on the best of terms yesterday. Shiro was probably still mad at him, for which Keith really couldn't blame him. He and Lance both had been assholes. Keith buried his nose against the cover of the photo album. He just wanted today to be over. 

He headed for the USCIS building alone, wishing more than anything that Shiro was there with him. It was terrifying, to be walking in on his own. He hadn't realized just how much of a security blanket Shiro had been throughout this whole process. He had seemed to take charge when Keith couldn’t, which had proved to be a vast majority of the time. And now that Shiro wasn’t by his side, he could hardly keep his wits about him. 

Keith settled with wrapping his arms tightly around the album after he’d checked in. He waited in one of the cold, hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. He rested his chin on the book, cell phone clutched in his hands. Shiro was supposed to tell him when he was on his way, but Keith hadn’t heard a word from him yet. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was because Shiro was still mad at him. He couldn’t blame him, really, after the events of yesterday. 

He jumped as his phone finally vibrated. But the name that showed up on his screen wasn’t the one that he wanted. _Hey, good luck today man. You got this. Tell me how it goes!_ Lance’s message was punctuated by a thumbs up emoji. It was comforting, but not quite as comforting as the thought that Shiro was on his way. 

The time he spent waiting for Shiro seemed to drag on. But his white-haired husband all but burst through the doors of the building not even an entire minute before their appointment was set. “Oh, God, I made it,” he panted, hurrying to take his seat next to Keith. He planted a kiss on Keith’s forehead. “Sorry I’m late, love.” 

Keith knew that Shiro was only pretending. He felt like someone had reached a hand into his chest and was squeezing his heart. “Is everything okay? Are you still mad at me?” he asked quietly. 

“Why would I be mad at you?” Shiro asked with a smile that was far too wide. So he wasn’t willing to talk about it. Keith guessed that might be the best idea, but he didn’t like it. He turned away from Shiro, gaze directed to the floor. 

“Never mind,” Keith muttered, and Shiro seemed satisfied with the response. “Are you ready?” 

Shiro paused. “...Ready as I’m going to be,” he said, and opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by the receptionist calling their names. Keith’s stomach lurched. This was it. This was going to make or break everything - if they weren’t convincing now, both of them were royally fucked. 

“Don’t mess this up,” Keith whispered to Shiro, but offered him a smile. If there was anyone who would mess all of this up, it would be Keith. Definitely not Shiro. 

He kept the book clutched to his chest as the two of them followed the receptionist into a separate hallway. She turned to Keith. “Alright, so you’ll be going first, and you-” She gestured to Shiro, “-will be next, so you can wait out here. They’ll take half an hour to an hour with you individually. Go on in, sir.” 

Keith ducked his head in thanks, stepping into the room after her direction. His interrogation room. His entire body was trembling. He’d had so much time to prepare for this, but it didn’t feel like enough. He didn’t think that any amount of time would have prepared him. 

He was greeted by a man and a woman, who were already sitting at a table across from where Keith was to sit. They offered him sweet smiles. “Good morning!” the woman chirped. “Please, take a seat, make yourself comfortable. Would you like some water?” 

Keith’s mouth was dry as a desert, but he politely declined. The man wasn’t quite as pleasant as her. “So, we’re going to ask you a series of questions, which we will compare with the answers that your husband gives us. It’s fairly straight forward. Would you like to show us the picture album?” 

This was the part that he was prepared for. He smiled, reaching forward to place the album on the table. “The first pictures in there are of our wedding. The rest are just… random pictures that we took over the years.” 

The woman thumbed through the first few pages, a fond smile playing at her lips. “You two look so happy,” she said sweetly. “What was your wedding like?” 

Keith thought back to their wedding. Their off the cuff, spur of the moment wedding. “Well, firstly, we got married at the courthouse. We wanted to wait a little longer, until we were out of school… but Shiro sprung the idea on me. He pretty much said ‘hey, let’s get married tomorrow.’” He laughed softly. “And we did. It was the tiniest thing, with some of our friends and family, but it was enough for us. I couldn’t have been happier.” His voice softened at the last sentence as he was flooded with the same emotions that he’d felt that very day. His heart swelled with adoration for Shiro. He was the perfect husband, and they’d only been ‘married’ for a month. He was perfect, in Keith’s eyes. 

“How did you two meet?” the man interjected curtly. It was obvious that he was trying to see through any facade that Keith was throwing up. 

“School,” Keith began. “We met in my first year of university, and Shiro’s fifth. He was starting his Master’s, and I was starting my aerospace degree. That’s how I came over here - for a scholarship. I hardly knew any English. People always looked at me weird because I had a thick accent, and people didn’t really want to bother.” He chewed his lower lip. “And then… Shiro came along. We had a class together. He sat next to me one day and complimented my shoes.” He smiled fondly at the memory. Silly as it may be, that was one of the formative memories that truly made his college experience as wonderful as it had been. It was a turning point for Keith. “And he actually tried to talk to me. He didn’t turn away because of how bad my English was. I remember, one day, he had googled how to say a few little things in Korean. He said hello, asked me how I was, told me that he liked my shoes… again, in really bad Korean.” 

He could feel tears stinging behind his eyelids. Saying it out loud really reiterated with Keith just how important Shiro had always been to him. He was quite sure that he would have been alone his entire college career if Shiro hadn’t come along. “And we talked more… and my English got better. His Korean didn’t get any better, though.” He laughed, brushing a finger along his now wet eyelashes. “He showed me how kind he was from the very beginning. Maybe that’s why it was so easy to fall for him.” 

“What about your first date?” the woman asked, fingers laced before her. Keith couldn’t help but notice that even the man’s once stony gaze had softened, if only a little bit. 

Keith chuckled softly at the thought. “A ramen shop. We went out to eat after class, just because… and we ended up there for five hours. Just talking.” He realized that he wasn’t lying quite as much as he had thought that he would. He didn’t have to tell them that said first date occurred _after_ the wedding. “I learned a lot about him. I was really scared to tell him much about myself back then, but… he was always an open book. He trusted me, and I really didn’t know why. It was weird, and I didn’t really know how to react to suddenly knowing all these intimate things about him. I guess it just made me love him more.” 

It was surprisingly easy to talk about Shiro. He supposed it was because he’d never really confronted his feelings about Shiro. He’d never talked about Shiro to anyone before - and it was a wonderful feeling. He wanted to yell to the world just how much he adored Shiro. But for now, it was nice to get it out to anyone who would listen, regardless of whether or not it was their job to listen. 

“Was it love at first sight?” The man’s next question caught Keith off guard. He hadn’t prepared for it, and he knew for sure that Shiro hadn’t either. 

But Keith knew his question within less than a second. “Yes.” But he paused. “Well… I think so, at least. I mean, of course, I thought he was the most beautiful man in the world, and I thought, _damn,_ America was the right place to come. But he just had this aura. This… sweetness, this gentleness that you wouldn’t expect from a guy as muscular as him. He looked kind. He looked… I don’t know, like I could trust him. I felt comfortable around him immediately. And it didn’t take me long to want to spend every damn second with him.” He could no longer see the people in front of him, and honestly, that made him a lot braver. His vision was completely blurred with tears. “So yeah. I guess I did fall in love with him right away. Or maybe I just knew that I would eventually fall in love with him. I knew it was possible.” 

It didn’t take him long to grow embarrassed. He laughed sheepishly, ducking his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to cry like this,” he muttered, wiping at his eyes. His female interrogator pushed a box of tissues towards him, which he accepted gratefully. 

The next words that Keith spoke surprised even him. “I love him. I really, truly do. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I-I know you guys didn’t ask me anything about that, but… I just want you to know that.” 

The woman offered him a serene smile. “I think we’re finished here, Keith. Thank you so much for cooperating with us.” She reached her hand out for a handshake, and Keith shook it before rising from his seat. “Would you mind to send your husband in?” 

“I will.” 

\--

Shiro had been practically on the edge of his seat the entire time. He was so nervous that he felt nauseous. But he could do this, he told himself. He could be convincing. After all… it wasn’t as if he would have to lie a lot. Their fabricated story was extremely close to the truth. 

He jumped as Keith finally exited the room. He couldn’t help but notice the red rim around his eyes - had he been crying? He couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs, and he offered Keith a massive grin. “Hey, you,” he said softly, reaching his hands out for Keith’s. He clutched Keith’s trembling hands. “Wish me luck.” 

“You can do it,” Keith said quietly, the smile not sliding from his lips. And somehow, that was more than enough for Shiro to feel confidence in himself. 

He took a seat in the exact same spot that Keith had been sitting in only a moment before. The same man and woman smiled at him. “Your husband seems like a very sweet man,” the woman commented. She leaned forward slightly. “What do you remember most about when you two met?” 

Shiro pursed his lips. What _didn’t_ he remember? The entire day was still so clear in his mind. “I think… the way he tried so hard to fit in with everyone else. The day that we met, he had tried to ask someone to be his partner for an assignment that the teacher gave us. He got nervous and sat back down before he even said anything to the person that he’d approached. And he looked so annoyed with himself. He started writing something at his desk… he was writing out how to ask someone to be his partner. His handwriting was so ugly.” He grinned. “And so I went up to him and said I liked his shoes. It was the lamest thing in the world, I couldn’t think of anything else to say. And then I asked him if he wanted any help with his English. And… the rest is history.” His heart warmed at the memory; it was easily one of his fondest. “We got so close after that, and I introduced him to all the rest of my friends. They all loved him. I guess that was… kind of how I knew that I loved him, too. Everyone talked about Keith, how cool and funny he was… one of my friends, Hunk, had a huge crush on him for a while. And I was so jealous,” he laughed. “But Hunk got a girlfriend and I got to pine after Keith all on my own.” 

“What’s your favourite memory with Keith?” the man asked with raised eyebrows. 

Shiro thought for a moment. They had so many fond memories together, how would he be able to choose just one? But after a moment, it came to him. “During his second year of school, he was taking this horrible class. It was Astronomy, or something weird like that. And Keith hated it. It was all he talked about, how much he hated that damn class. I kept telling him to switch it out for something else, but he was stubborn. He wanted to see it through to the end. So one night, he came over, and I helped him study. And after maybe an hour of studying, he gave up. He wouldn’t stop yelling about how much he hated stars, how he never wanted to see another star or planet again in his life. And I thought that was a pretty funny thing for an aerospace major to say. I told him I could change his mind, and he didn’t believe me. So I took him outside, and we laid in the grass, looking up at the stars. Keith’s eyes got so big, I could see the stars in them.” A fond smile settled across his lips. “He loved the stars. He’d forgotten how much he loved them. But at the same time, I realized how much I loved him. I guess, now that I think about it… that’s when I fell in love with him.” 

The woman mirrored Shiro’s smile. “Would you say it was love at first sight, Shiro?” she asked. 

“I don’t think so,” Shiro said. “It took me a while. I mean, I liked him a lot when I first met him. He was inquisitive, and smart, and honestly, I admired him more than anything. I couldn’t believe how brave he was for tackling not only a completely different language, but _learning_ in a completely different language. He amazed me. It just took me a while to start _loving_ him. But when I did start loving him… I _really_ , truly loved him. And I just love him more and more as I get to know more about him.” 

The man was the one to cut it off. “Thank you for your time today, Shiro. You and Keith are free to go. We’ll be in contact within about a week.” 

Shiro felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off his chest. It was over - for now, at least. He wouldn’t fully relax until they heard the results. “Thank you two, so much,” he said politely, closing the door behind him as he left the room. 

Keith looked up quickly, eyes wide. “You’re finished already?” he asked. 

Shiro grinned. Every trace of irritation that he’d felt towards Keith at the beginning of the day had disappeared. “Yep. Come on, let’s get out of here.” 

But before Shiro had a chance to react, Keith leaped from his seat and threw his arms around Shiro’s neck, kissing him firmly. He could only assume it was because their interrogators had left the room and entered the hallway, but Shiro wasn’t going to argue. He kissed Keith back, entangling his fingers in the other man’s beautiful, thick, dark hair. He’d always wanted to do that. Tears leaked from his eyelids, spilling down his cheeks. 

“Why are you crying, dummy? We’re done. We made it,” Keith whispered against Shiro’s lips. 

“ _Because_ we made it, dummy,” Shiro laughed through his tears, pulling Keith as close to him as he possibly could. He held Keith there, and he was in no rush to release him. “But maybe we shouldn’t celebrate just yet… we still have to wait for the results.” 

“Shut up,” Keith muttered into Shiro’s chest. He wrapped his arms around Shiro’s torso, and Shiro held him there. 

Even when the interrogators were gone, Shiro kept Keith there, enveloped tightly in his arms. Someone would have to force them apart, because Shiro never wanted to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS THERE'S ONLY TWO MAJOR CHAPTERS LEFT AND THEN THE EPILOGUE. I MIGHT CRY. thank you guys again for sticking by me through all of this, all the comments and everything that i get from you guys just make my day. <3


	10. Graduation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning - this chapter gets a little smutty later.   
> :)

It wasn’t until the day of graduation that the two heard from USCIS. 

Keith had spent every night in Shiro’s dorm, just in case they were to wake up to a phone call from USCIS. They wanted to hear it together - plus, Lance was just as invested as the two of them were. It was nice to know that their friend was concerned for them. The call woke them up at 7 am on the dot. Keith scrambled to the phone. 

“Mr. Gyeong?” came the voice on the other end of the phone. 

He tried to sound as awake as he possibly could, despite having to drag himself out of bed to answer the call. “Yes! Yes, hi!” He mashed the speaker button with a trembling finger. 

“Hello! I was just calling to let you know that your interviewers from last week thought you two were wonderful. They were very eager to let me know that they see no reason that you shouldn’t be approved to get your green card. Congratulations, sir.” It took all of Keith’s effort not to burst into tears. This was it. He was finished. They’d done it. He clamped his hand over his mouth, and Shiro reached for the phone. 

The grin on his face looked as if it might split his face in two. “Thank you so much!! Sorry, Keith’s a little emotional,” he laughed, and Keith smacked his arm. Tears spilled down his cheeks, and Lance pulled him into an affectionate headlock. 

“So guess you’re not getting deported after all!” he hooted, and Keith laughed despite his tears. He didn’t know if he’d ever felt so relieved in his entire life. He buried his face in his hands, and large arms wrapped around him - arms that weren’t Lance’s lanky ones. He leaned into Shiro, still unable to believe his ears.

He heard the slap of a high five shared between Shiro and Lance, and Keith allowed himself to be held by Shiro. It felt like he was in a dream, a dream that was far too good to be true. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that this was reality. But Shiro leaned into him, whispering in his ear. “Are you actually excited to graduate now?” he asked, a soft laugh punctuating his sentence. 

Truthfully, he’d been dreading graduation. He felt as if he didn’t really deserve the excitement, not with the possibility of being deported looming over him. But now, he was excited. Now, he was ready to graduate alongside his friends, throw his cap into the air like a true American college graduate. Now, he was an American. A Korean-American; despite his upbringing, he was determined to stay true to his heritage. “Very excited,” he grinned, wiping away the last of his tears. 

“I guess you guys were gay enough to convince them,” Lance snickered. “But obviously you guys are pretty good at that.” Keith couldn’t tell if Lance had finally given in on the thought of being with Shiro. A selfish part of him hoped so. But he didn’t seem bitter any time Keith spoke about him. In a way, he felt guilty for making one of his closest friends give up on the person that he loved, but also… he didn’t want to share. 

“We should start getting ready,” Shiro said a little too quickly, his face a light shade of pink. Were it not for that charming blush, Keith might have been a little perturbed by the quick change of subject. Maybe Shiro’s feelings were the same as Keith’s. After all, they’d shared a quite unnecessary kiss after the interview. 

He hadn’t stopped thinking about that damn kiss. It was completely different than the others that they’d shared. Of course, Shiro hadn’t been the one to initiate the kiss, but he hadn’t pulled away. If anything, he deepened it. He reciprocated - Keith knew he wasn’t just imagining that. It had definitely happened. Of course, the interviewers were there… but they probably hadn’t expected a kiss, and definitely not one quite that passionate. He felt his own cheeks grow warm at the thought. To distract himself, he jumped up from his bed and hurried to get dressed. 

After all, he had a graduation to go to. 

\----

Keith was giddy with excitement as he met up with Hunk, Pidge, and Allura in the auditorium, Lance and Shiro in tow. He couldn’t wipe the grin from his face, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to. He couldn’t be happier that all of his friends were graduating together. He was so incredibly proud of all of them. 

“Guys!” Allura chirped, hopping up from her seat to throw her arms around all three of them. “Are you excited?” 

“Excited’s the understatement of the century,” Lance grinned. He took his seat next to Hunk, and Keith made sure to sit next to Shiro. Before too long, their names would be called, and they’d walk across the stage to accept their diplomas… and they would be college graduates. They’d reap the rewards of their four years of hard work - and for Allura and Shiro, their eight years of work. They’d all worked their asses off. They deserved this, Keith thought. Not only was he excited to walk across the stage himself, but he was excited to see his friends walk as well. And he’d be the loudest cheerer. 

Pidge shushed them as the Dean of the University stepped up to the podium to speak. He began his spiel, telling the pool of students how proud he was to see all of the graduates before him. He balled the fabric of his gown in his fists, fidgeting with excitement. Keith could hardly concentrate with all the excitement buzzing through his system. 

And then, the Dean started with the names. Of their friends, Allura was the first one to be called. The rest of the group rose from their seats, hooting and hollering her name, cheering her on, which brought a brilliant blush to her cheeks. If anyone truly deserved this, it was Allura. She’d served as the honorary mother of their group, and Keith was endlessly grateful for her. Everyone in their group was. 

Next was Pidge, and then… Keith. His name was called and it echoed in his ears, throughout his entire body. He trembled as he rose from his seat. He glanced back at Shiro, who shot him a toothy grin and a thumbs up. “Go,” he mouthed to Keith.

And so he did. 

This was it, he thought. His college career was over. And now, it was up to him to find a job, to make something of himself… to start his life with Shiro. Their fake life. But now, it didn’t feel quite so fake. He had all the faith in the world that he and Shiro would be able to have the best life together, whether or not his feelings were reciprocated. He and Shiro had grown so close over the course of the last month, living with him would be effortless. 

He accepted his diploma from the Dean with the brightest smile he could muster. His cheeks ached from the strain, but he didn’t mind it. His friends screamed for him, pumping their fists in the air, and Keith turned to them with a foggy gaze. 

The one who stood out the most was Shiro. 

His hands were cupped around his mouth, amplifying his voice as he yelled for Keith. He felt like his insides had all melted and were pooling at his feet. He pumped his fist in the air, causing even more of an uproar from his friends. 

He felt so loved. 

Were he not concentrating on forcing his lead feet to carry himself across the stage to where the rest of the graduates had congregated, he probably would have broken down into tears. He joined Allura and Pidge, who immediately huddled around him, holding him tightly between the two of them. Allura planted a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t cry, silly, today’s a happy day,” she whispered, loudly enough to be heard over the excited hum of the auditorium. 

And he was happy. He was happier than he’d ever been in his entire life. How could he be anything but deliriously happy? He was surrounded by people who loved him, people that he loved, for the first time in his entire life. People actually cared for him. And he’d never known what that felt like before. Allura, Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Shiro had taught him what love was. He’d never thought himself capable of anything like that. 

Hearing Lance’s name next pulled the three from each other, and they screamed. Keith screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping in place. He could’ve sworn that he saw tears streaming down Lance’s cheeks as he crossed the stage. The entire auditorium was full of emotion - maybe that was why it had been so easy for Keith to start crying. He held both of his hands up for high fives as Lance joined them, and Lance slapped them with all of his might. 

When Hunk crossed the stage, he was all but blubbering. But the grin on his face was contagious. Keith couldn’t help but grin for him as he and the others yelled for him. Hunk was the most loving human being Keith had ever met. He taught Keith compassion. Hunk had more compassion than anyone Keith had ever met. He truly showed Keith that he had to have faith in humanity - how could humanity be so bad if Hunk existed? 

Lance was the first one to throw his arms around Hunk. Hunk held him tightly, burying his face in Lance’s neck. And they didn’t pull away until Shiro’s name was called. 

Keith’s heart stopped. 

He turned to watch Shiro cross the stage, and he was overcome with pride. That was _his_ Shiro, accepting the diploma that he’d worked so damn hard for. He deserved this, he truly did. 

He screamed the loudest for Shiro. 

He screamed until he was hoarse. He wanted to make damn sure that he was the one Shiro heard, over anyone else. He wanted Shiro to know that Keith was the proudest in the world for him. To him, Shiro was second to none. 

He didn’t know what made him do what he did next - the impulse came over him, and he couldn’t stop it. But he didn’t know if he wanted to. “I love you!” The chorus of cheers for Shiro drowned out his words, but he didn’t mind that. He didn’t care if Shiro heard or not. It made him feel so much better to say it aloud. 

He launched himself into Shiro’s arms the moment he was close enough to do so, and Pidge laughed. “Hey, you gotta share him with us!” she interjected, but Keith didn’t heed her words for a minute or so. Shiro was his - and he wasn’t sharing, not yet. 

Shiro held him tightly, burrowing his nose into the crook of Keith’s neck. “We did it. We’ve come so far,” he whispered against the skin of his neck, and Keith could’ve sworn he heard Shiro’s voice waver. It only made Keith hold him tighter. 

But after a moment, Shiro pulled away, passing around high-fives and hugs among their group. Keith turned his attention to Hunk, whose eyes were still glistening with unshed tears. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“You okay?” he asked softly, resting a hand on Hunk’s arm. 

Hunk grinned. “Never better,” he said, throwing his arms around Keith. Keith hugged him back tightly. 

He never wanted today to end. 

“Congratulations, class of 2016!” the dean bellowed, which was answered by a resounding cheer from the entire graduating class. 

They threw up their caps, but even still, all Keith could look at was Shiro. He was giddy with laughter, as were all the rest of the group. He’d never seen everyone so happy before.

He wanted them to all be this happy forever. 

\---

Once all the fuss from graduation was over, they decided to go out to celebrate. Their celebration of choice was a restaurant well known for its cocktails - Keith wasn’t going to go all night without a celebratory drink. Pidge had been elected the designated driver, as she was the only one who wasn’t going to drink. Plus, she was the only one not old enough, but just barely. She was 21 in a matter of months. Keith wished that she could really celebrate with them, but it was likely that one of them would slip her a sip or two. 

The first thing that Keith ordered was a margarita and a basket of chicken wings. This was all he would need - well, a few more margaritas, maybe. Hell, he wanted to _really_ drink tonight. He hadn’t been able to all this time, because studying took up the vast majority of his time. But tonight, he was going to let loose. He hadn’t a single worry in the world. Everything was better than he could have ever imagined it being. Everyone was happy, for the first time in a while. 

Drinks were passed around the table to everyone but Pidge, who looked on wistfully. Allura nudged her margarita over to her, which she took a timid sip of. Her eyes widened. “Woah, that’s good,” she breathed, eliciting a giggle from Allura. 

“I know. That’s why I got it,” she winked, and raised her glass to the middle of the table. “To us. Because we worked really, _really_ hard for this, and we deserve a great night!” 

“Hell yeah!” Lance grinned, clinking his glass against everyone else’s. A few more clinks sounded from the glasses, and Keith took a long sip of his. All he wanted was to be fuzzy, happy, and a little drunk. 

And that didn’t take long. He’d polished off three margaritas within an hour, and needless to say, he was a bit of a lightweight. He’d garnered quite a bit of teasing from everyone else, but he was too tipsy to care. 

“Your face is all red,” Hunk grinned, quite tipsy himself. He was giggling after every other word, and his giggling only fueled Keith’s giggling. 

Shiro grinned at the two of them. He’d drunk quite a bit himself - he could definitely hold his alcohol better than the others. “You two are so drunk already,” he teased, taking a slow sip of his own drink. “It’s cute.” 

Keith beamed at Shiro’s compliment. He wanted to pretend like it had been directed only at him. “I’m not drunk!” he insisted, waving off Shiro’s comment with a flick of his wrist. He really wasn’t, he thought - he was just a little tipsy. He had full control of what he was doing… he just chose not to exercise said control. He said whatever popped into his mind. 

And so Hunk’s next question was bound to spill a few secrets. “What are you guys planning now?” he asked. “I mean… we gotta find _jobs._ And _houses._ That all sounds… hard.” 

“Well, I got it all planned out already,” Keith interjected a little too quickly. “Shiro and I gotta live together for two years.” 

Shiro’s eyes widened, and Keith felt a sharp kick to his shin. “Ow! Shiro, what the hell!” he whined, jutting out his lower lip in Shiro’s direction. 

That was, until he realized what he said. 

He cleared his throat. “I mean… I’m drunk, I don’t know what I’m saying.” He buried his face in his drink, taking the longest possible swig that he could manage. 

But keeping his own mouth shut didn’t help anything. “Yeah, dude, you guys got it all together! You’re married - all you gotta do is get jobs! Then you’re all set _forever_!” Lance slurred, slamming down his drink. “I’m jealous as fuck, dude. Dudes.” He giggled under his breath, taking another drink of his beer. 

Allura blinked. “What?” she squeaked. “You guys are married?” 

Keith nearly choked on his drink, but luckily, Shiro jumped in before Keith could answer. “These two are drunk. I don’t know where they got all this.” He sounded eerily calm - Keith didn’t know how he was able to keep it all together, knowing that everyone else had probably caught onto what was happening. 

Pidge raised her eyebrows. “Why would he say that if there wasn’t a little bit of truth to it?” she asked, seeming to be truly curious. She clutched her soda between two hands. “Are you guys keeping something from us?”

Ever the king of blurting out inappropriate things, Keith didn’t stop himself from talking. “We got married so that I could get my green card and now I have my green card but we have to do another interview thing in two… years? And we have to have lived together, and… we got this shit figured out!” He couldn’t keep himself from grinning with excitement. He and Shiro were going to be living together. How could he be anything but excited? After all, they’d already been approved - if they could pass the interview this time, they could pass it the next time, too. 

Allura didn’t seem phased. “You guys are lucky as hell! You already got each other! You don’t have to worry about finding anyone, and you can support each other and live together and you don’t have to worry about getting a house all on your own… man, maybe _I_ should’ve married someone.” She threw her arm around Hunk’s shoulders, raising her eyebrows suggestively. “Hunk, marry me.” 

Hunk’s already red face went about ten shades redder. “Allura, you’re drunk. You don’t wanna marry me,” he laughed shyly. 

Were Keith a little less drunk, he probably would have thought more of the slight widening of Lance’s eyes, and the subtle moving closer to Hunk. “Nah, Hunk’s marrying _me_ ,” Lance interrupted, wrapping his arms around Hunk’s neck and pulling him close a little roughly. Hunk nearly tumbled out of his seat. 

Shiro joined into the laughter, seemingly quite relieved to know that no one seemed to be reacting much to their news. “You guys are so drunk.” But his own words were starting to slur a little more as he accepted his fifth drink. Keith had elected to stop; he was at just the right level of drunk - the level where he didn’t give a fuck about _anything._

“ _You’re_ drunk!” Lance shot back, pointing a finger at Shiro’s nose before downing the rest of his beer. It was no surprise to anyone that Lance was the one drinking the most, and arguably holding his alcohol the worst of everyone. “We’re all drunk! Everyone’s drunk!” He was starting to get a little louder, and Keith winced against the volume. 

“I think… we need to get you home,” Hunk giggled, patting both of Lance’s cheeks. “Should we go home, Lance? One more night in my dorm room?” 

“One more night… better make the most of it,” Lance purred suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. Keith could’ve sworn that he heard a quickly whispered ‘shut up’ from Hunk. 

He couldn’t bring himself to pay attention to the sexually-fueled discussion between his two friends. All of his attention was on Shiro. He didn’t mind that Hunk was wordlessly kicking him out of their dorm room - he wanted to spend the night with Shiro, anyway. “I’m… sleepy, too. Shiro?” He tilted his head exaggeratedly to the side, giggling to himself as his ear touched his shoulder. 

Shiro grinned. “Good idea. I’m sleepy, too. _Veeeeeeery_ sleepy.” Keith wasn’t sure if he imagined the wink or not. 

Pidge sighed. “Okay, you drunks, let’s bring you home.” 

\----

Keith all but made Shiro carry him into the dorm room. Though being completely sloshed himself, Shiro wasn’t quite as drunk as Keith. Keith was teetering on the edge of black-out drunk. The moment his face hit the cool night air, he lost all sense of control. He was a giggling, dopey mess. 

He collapsed onto Shiro’s bed. “Our friends know that we’re married now,” he commented, eyes fluttering closed. “That’s pretty cool. Think they’ll start calling me Keith Shirogane?” His eyes widened, and he immediately shot up. “Your name’s Takashi, isn’t it! I’m your husband - I’m gonna call you Takashi.” 

Shiro’s eyes widened. “No one really calls me Takashi. But you should,” he said, and perched on the corner of the bed next to Keith. Keith remained sprawled out, arms raised, and his shirt came up slightly, revealing a sliver of pale skin. “You know, I thought everyone would freak out, but they didn’t.” 

Keith shrugged. “They’re cool. They love us. They’ll put up with whatever weird shit we do.” He couldn’t bring himself to keep his eyes open, and so he left them closed, but moved to rest his head in Shiro’s lap. The filter between his mind and body was completely gone; he wasn’t even quite sure of what he was doing at the moment. He reached up, trailing his fingers along Shiro’s jawbone. “I have a pretty husband.” 

Shiro snorted. “You’re drunk,” he argued, and Keith giggled. 

“Yeah.” In a sudden burst of energy, Keith sat back up. His body felt warm and tingly, and his fingers didn’t really feel like fingers. He trailed them along Shiro’s chest in an attempt to feel _something._ “You really are pretty, though. You’re so… chiseled. And strong. And the scar on your nose makes you look badass.” 

Shiro laughed heartily, resting a hand on Keith’s cheek. “You’re not this nice when you’re not drunk,” he teased, patting his cheek. Keith flinched; every motion felt a thousand times amplified. “You should sleep, Keith.” 

The burst of courage was definitely a result of the alcohol. He leaned forward, half-lidded eyes fixating on Shiro’s face. “Nah. There’s something else I’d rather do.”

Shiro waited expectantly, eyebrows raised. But Keith didn’t move for a moment. “What’s that?” he asked. 

Keith paused again. His thoughts were jumbled. He knew what he wanted to say, what he wanted to do, but putting it into words was useless. 

So he didn’t bother with words. He pressed his lips to Shiro’s, and he felt as if every nerve in his body was standing on end. He was hyper-aware of everything - the way Shiro’s lips felt on his, and he was sure that he could feel every cell of Shiro’s skin as he placed his hand on the small of Keith’s back, pulling him closer. 

Shiro didn’t try to force Keith off him. Instead, he encouraged Keith’s advances. He kissed Keith hungrily, which he returned heartily, tongue sliding along Shiro’s lower lip. Shiro’s breath hitched in the back of his throat, and his lips parted, granting Keith’s tongue entrance. 

Keith didn’t know where all of this was coming from. He had no idea what he was doing. He’d never so much as kissed anyone before, never mind full on making out like they were now. But he was drunk enough not to care how horrible he was at it. All he knew was that he wanted Shiro - no, _needed_ him. 

And Shiro was definitely delivering. He tangled his fingers in Keith’s thick, dark hair, yanking his head back to expose his long, slender neck. He peppered kisses along the sensitive skin before latching onto the dip in his collarbone. Keith let out a low moan, moving to wrap his legs around Shiro’s waist. Shiro was on his knees, and he pulled Keith into his lap. Sloppily, Keith reached to slip off his t-shirt, tossing it carelessly onto the floor. 

He didn’t feel the slightest bit inadequate. Maybe it was the liquid courage - but he couldn’t help but think it was because of Shiro. Shiro made him feel comfortable, he always had. He’d never exposed this much of himself before Shiro before, but he wasn’t concerned about it. If anything, he wanted to strip off more. He wanted to be closer to Shiro, closer than he’d ever been. 

Shiro’s lips continued their trail down Keith’s now bare chest, and he nipped along the way, leaving tiny red spots down the pale skin of his chest. Keith moaned unabashedly, his body completely virgin to these kind of feelings. His cock stirred in his pants, straining against his zipper. Were he not so drunk, he probably would have been embarrassed by how easy it was for Shiro to stir him up. But right now, he was going to enjoy it. He was enjoying himself more than he ever had before. 

Shiro shoved him down onto his back, positioning himself over Keith. “You’re so cute, moaning already, and I’ve hardly touched you,” he breathed, hands hovering teasingly over the waistband of Keith’s jeans. 

Keith whined, raising his hips up against Shiro’s large hands. He would be lying if he said he’d never imagined those huge hands wrapped around his member. “Stop teasing me,” he begged, capturing his plump lower lip between his teeth. “Shiro….” 

Shiro flashed that infuriatingly charming grin at Keith, lowering himself towards the man beneath him. “Ask nicely,” he whispered, and Keith let out a string of ‘please’s, hips still stuttering desperately against nothing, wishing desperately for some kind of contact, any kind. 

Shiro couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He all but ripped Keith’s jeans from his body, tossing them to the floor. Keith was sprawled before him, wrapping his legs once more around Shiro’s waist in a feeble attempt to pull him closer. Shiro fumbled with the button and zipper of his own jeans, and finally kicked them off, as well as discarding his shirt. With the next desperate rise of Keith’s hips, his barely clothed bulge came in contact with Shiro’s, and he moaned louder than before, rubbing himself against Shiro with a new found vigor. 

A grin pulled at Shiro’s lips, and he dipped his hand down into the waistband of Keith’s boxers, clutching his throbbing member in one hand. Keith had to admit, it felt even better than he’d ever imagined it. Keith’s breathing grew ragged, and he bit back a string of moans, hands reaching down to ball the sheets in his fists. “Shiro,” he begged, “please….” He didn’t know what he was asking for - he just wanted something, anything. No matter what Shiro did, he wanted more. 

Shiro stroked Keith agonizingly slowly, obviously trying to draw out more of a reaction. He leaned down to press his lips to Keith’s, but the kiss was soft, a stark contrast to the growing speed of Shiro’s hand. Keith sunk into the kiss, still pushing his hips up into Shiro’s hand. Shiro moaned into Keith’s mouth, his firm body trembling with desire. Keith reveled in the fact that he was the one making Shiro like this. Shiro was moaning because of Keith. 

The thought in itself only heightened Keith’s desire. His hips couldn’t move fast enough. “God, Shiro, _fuck me already,_ ” he demanded, his voice hoarse. He didn’t know where this side of him had come from, but at least it was getting things going. 

He cried out as Shiro pulled himself from Keith, muttering something about Lance’s lube. His eyes widened at the word - _lube._ He tried to hold himself back from demanding Shiro again. He was so desperately, almost painfully aroused, and he needed a release. Something told him it would come faster than he wanted it to. 

Shiro retrieved a bottle of lube from Lance’s bedside table, sloppily lathering it on his own throbbing cock. He slid a finger into Keith slowly, and the younger man gasped in surprise. He hadn't been ready, but if Shiro had given him any warning, he probably would have chickened out. It took him a while to adjust to the foreign feeling, but once he did… he was on cloud nine. 

It wasn't long before he was begging for more. He grabbed at Shiro desperately, trying to get as close as he possibly could to the other man. All he wanted was more contact. “Please, Shiro, please,” he whimpered, lips parted as he gasped for breath. 

Shiro wasted no time in giving Keith everything he wanted. He slid another finger in beside the other, and Keith’s breath hitched in the back of his throat. He felt himself stretching more, but he savored the feeling. The pain blended with pleasure, and he arched his back off the bed, chest coming into contact with Shiro’s. All he could think was that he wanted _more._

He was growing impatient, and fast. “Shiro, please, I need you so badly,” he moaned, too drunk with pleasure to be embarrassed by how much he was begging. “Please, please….” His voice trailed off as his attention returned to trying to force himself into Shiro. 

“Are you sure you're ready?” Shiro breathed. Keith was touched by the fact that, despite his drunkness, Shiro was still concerned enough to prepare Keith. He still seemed hesitant. 

Keith nodded. “Y-Yeah, more than ready,” he moaned, and Shiro repositioned himself on top of Keith again. He angled himself to allow Shiro easier access, legs spread and resting at either side of Shiro. 

Shiro surprised Keith by cupping his thighs, hooking his legs over Shiro’s shoulders. Shiro moved slowly, and Keith hissed against the unfamiliar feeling. But as he stretched to accommodate Shiro’s girth, the discomfort changed to pleasure. Keith cried out Shiro’s name, and Shiro clamped his hand over Keith’s mouth. It wasn’t until then that he realized that he was probably being _quite_ loud. But he didn’t give a damn. He wanted the entire dorm hall to hear that he was crying out Shiro’s name, that Shiro was _his._

He bucked his hips up against Shiro, the slapping sounds of skin meeting skin echoing throughout the room. Keith never would’ve thought that he would find a sound like that arousing. He didn’t think he’d stopped moaning for even a second as Shiro pumped in and out of him. 

And that was when he started to hear Shiro’s moans. He was obviously trying to hold them back for the sake of being quiet, but Keith didn’t want him to. He wanted to hear them. He reached up and grabbed the short hair at the nape of Shiro’s neck, dragging him down to Keith’s level. “I want to hear you,” he breathed against Shiro’s lips. 

The demand in itself was enough to draw a moan from the older man. He shamelessly let out a deep moan, breath ghosting across Keith’s lips. Nothing turned him on more than hearing Shiro moan. At this point, he was entirely convinced that he’d be able to get off to Shiro’s moans alone. 

His toes curled as his arousal bubbled at the pit of his stomach, and he gasped against Shiro, clawing desperately at his back. The pain from Keith’s sharp nails drew more ragged moans from Shiro, and Keith clutched Shiro tightly, the speed of his hips increasing as he grew closer and closer to his orgasm. 

They came almost simultaneously, Keith growling out Shiro’s name, and Shiro gasping for breath, hot, thick strings of cum coating Keith’s backside and dripping down his thighs. It wasn’t necessarily a feeling that he savored, but he didn’t care at the moment. He focused solely on the feeling of Shiro inside him. It was a connection that he’d never felt with anyone before - an intimate closeness that he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to feel with anyone else ever again. The only person he could possibly imagine this with was Shiro. 

Immediately sapped from every bit of energy he had, Keith fell to his side on the bed, and Shiro followed suit, fighting to catch his breath. Keith pulled Shiro close to him, hiding his face in Shiro’s chest. All traces of drunkenness had left him - all but the damn fatigue. He felt tingly, and he fought to cling to consciousness. “I’m...tired,” he managed, and Shiro laughed. 

“Then I guess I did my job right,” Shiro whispered. 

That was the last thing he heard before sleep claimed him.


End file.
